Emergence
by knicnort3
Summary: Swan Manor is hiding dark secrets. Humming in the night, vibrating foundation, and a mysterious hatch that leads to a cold dungeon and a glowing eye. As Bella begins to unravel the intense underground world lurking just below her feet, she must decide if she is prepared to risk everything to set a certain someone free. AU, Vampires, B/E
1. A Lulling in the Dark

**Emergence**

Summary: Most houses are built for people to live in, but some are built to hide dangerous secrets. Swan Manor holds those types of secrets. Once Bella begins to unravel the intense underground world lurking just below her feet, she must decide if she is prepared to risk everything to set a certain someone free.

Rated M for language, violence, and some sweet loving. B/E, AU. Supernatural, Vampires, and a crazy fun ride.

Alternate Universe Warning \- These are not your typical Twilight vampires. I took some liberties and changed things a bit. Please understand that if certain aspects are not described accurately according to SM's Twilight Universe, I am completely aware and have done so intentionally. Thanks for understanding.

A/N: A special thanks to CoppertopJ for your pre-reading, editing, and all around awesomeness.

Disclaimer: Clearly I'm not Stephenie Meyer. Twilight and all its characters are hers. I just borrow them to play for a while. No copyright infringement was intended.

...

 **Chapter 1 – A Lulling in the Dark**

For as long as I could remember, I heard the humming. It lulled me to sleep every night, and comforted me through the thunderous raging storms. It was in one of my earliest memories. As a scared little girl during my first night in the large spooky manor, it was the humming that drowned out the creaks and thumps. It was the only thing that got me through the darkness.

 _"Are there ghosts here, daddy?" I vaguely recalled asking my father one morning._

 _"Of course not, silly," he dismissed. "This is just an old creaky house. The pipes sing when the water runs through them. Nothing more," he had told me with a reassuring smile and a playful wink._

One of my later memories was of me asking my father again about the strange but soothing hum that would carry into my room at night, but like before, my father would always have an excuse. _"It's an old house, love bug. Go back to sleep."_

But the manor was a chilling place. It was more than the drafts and the seemingly random wisps of moist crispness to air, there was an all around eeriness that followed me around the massive dark halls. Low thuds and muffled rumbles that could not be so simply explained. My father, however, seemed oblivious.

" _There! Did you hear it?"_ I had asked once during dinner. It was so loud that the very ground below my feet even vibrated, and the water in my glass rippled.

" _Hear what, honey?_ " Dad asked me.

I could only come to three conclusions – either my dad was messing with my mind on purpose, he was going deaf, or I was going stark raving mad. They all seemed wrong on so many levels, so I decided to keep my thoughts and concerns about the noises to myself from then on.

Swan Manor had been in our family for more than ten generations. Ever since The Great Revolution, a Swan had resided within its walls. It was an exquisite building with its twenty seven rooms, three floors, and the most beautiful gardens I had ever seen. It was a dream home for most, and such an amazing place to grow up - if only it wasn't for the creepy nights. Of course, there were those who envied the nights there as well...

"I can't believe you actually get to live in a haunted house," my friend Jessica had said during her first self-invited sleepover. It was the summer when I was twelve, and despite having a bunch of friends, that was the first time I ever had anyone at the house. I never wanted anyone there. It was as if I knew somehow, someway, it just wasn't safe. But that summer Jessica developed a fascination with ghosts after watching some scary movie, and she would not be stopped.

"It's not haunted," I rebuffed, trying to convince myself just as much as her. "It's just old and creaky."

"I'm sorry, I'm not convinced. How can an old place like this not be haunted? Why don't you give me a tour," she suggested eagerly.

I huffed. "Can we not? There's really nothing exciting about it. I promise."

"Oh please, Bella," she whined. "I bet you'll never let me sleep over here again. This could be my only chance to see a real ghost."

"There aren't any ghosts," I said frustrated.

"Well, maybe there are in the far side of the house," she said with wiggling brows.

"Ugh, fine," I relented. "But I hope you're not afraid of the dark."

It was such a huge place, and due to the fact that we weren't exactly rich, my dad could only afford to keep electricity running to half of it. So I grabbed some flashlights, and reluctantly led Jessica to the dark side of the manor.

"So this is the west wing," I told her as we clicked on our flashlights. "We rarely come over here."

"You don't have a cleaning staff?" Jess questioned while waving a cob web away from her face.

"No, but we do hire a cleaning crew to come in before Christmas. My dad turns on the electricity when we have our big annual family reunion during Christmas break. Extended family comes from all over the world, so it's nice having the extra space. But there is a groundskeeper who lives in a smaller house on the property somewhere. He only works on the outside though."

"Gosh, you would think owning a place like this you could afford to keep the electricity running all the time."

I shrugged. "Well, we're far from rich. This place has been in our family for a long time, it's not like we bought it."

"To tell you the truth, I kind of like it all dusty and full of webs. Makes it more fun to look around. You should really throw a big Halloween party here. It would be totally awesome. I bet there are rooms in this place you've never even been in, huh?" she said with astonishment while we continued down the dark hall.

"I actually have been in all of these rooms." I told her as we stopped in front of another door. I opened it, and pointed my light inside the room so she could see.

"Wow, each room is decorated like an old doll house," she commented. "Freaky. Your mom must have really been into lace."

I shrugged. "She left when I was four, so I don't remember her too well. But I don't think she decorated any of these rooms. They were here long before she was."

"Where did your mom go anyway?" Jess asked curiously. "There are so many different rumors around town."

I laughed once. "What kind of rumors?"

"Oh, you know."

"No, I really don't," I denied.

"The rumors that your dad actually killed her," she said, taking me aback. When I raised my brows in surprise and confusion, she hesitantly continued. "Well, there's talk that your dad chopped her up and buried her in the basement here. I mean, I heard he use to be the police chief a few towns over, but when you guys moved in here, he quit his job, and your mom disappeared not long after." She raised her shoulder. "Your dad is a little antisocial. People only see him out and about when he's taking you places."

"So, because he's a little shy, people make up stories about him? Wow. It's a wonder that your parents even let you spend the night here if they seriously think my dad is a murderer."

"Oh, no one really thinks that, Bella. It's just one of those fun spooky stories the kids tell. You know, passed down from older siblings and such. My older brother is the one who told me. He remembers when your mom left. It was the talk of the town."

"It's nice to know that the pain of my mom's abandonment is so entertaining for everyone," I grumbled.

"Bella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"It's fine. Let's just get this tour over with so we can go back to the kitchen to make popcorn and s'mores."

We exited the room, and finished the creaky walk to the end of the long hall. We did the same on the other two floors as well, but when we reached the very end of the last hall, Jessica wasn't quite ready for the tour to be finished.

"What's in that door?" she asked of the only one I didn't open for her.

"It's just a storage closet."

"Can we see inside?"

I crinkled my brows. "Why?"

"Because it's a creepy door at the end of a creepy hall."

"There is literally just brooms and cleaning supplies in there."

"Please," Jess practically begged.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, whatever." I opened the door and pointed my flashlight inside the musty closet. "See? Nothing cool."

Jessica smiled with wide eyes, and then she took a step into the closet. "Feel that? It's colder in here. There must be a ghost."

"It's cold everywhere in this house," I disagreed."

"Yeah, but it's colder in here." Then she oddly stomped her foot. "The ground is hollow. Hear it? What's below us?"

"Nothing. We're on the bottom floor."

"No, listen." She stomped again.

"It's probably just a crawl space or something. There's no basement here."

"Maybe that's where your dad keeps his victims' dead bodies," she said way too excitedly.

I huffed.

"Your mom isn't the only person who has gone missing in this area. That's all I'm saying."

"Whatever. Let's just go back to the kitchen now," I suggested, suddenly feeling anxious.

"Hey, look at this," Jessica called after me as I tried to lead her away. "There's like a little door down here. Come help me open it."

"Jessica, no. Let's just go back…"

"Are you scared?" she teased me. "Come on? How bad could it be?"

I would never admit it, but suddenly I was scared, and I had no idea why. Of course, my twelve year old brain only used that fear as a challenge.

"Okay. Let's just open it and look inside. That's it."

Jess agreed, but it took both of us pulling on the handle with all our strength to get the door to finally screech open.

"Whoa," Jessica said as we aimed our lights down the hole. "Can you even see the bottom?"

"No," I whispered. An icy chill hit us from below, and I reflexively slammed the door shut.

"Oh, come on. We have to go down there," Jessica said eagerly.

I shook my head. "I think I need to talk to my dad."

I didn't wait until Jessica was convinced, nor did I pause at her protests. I just hurried away, and hoped she was following me.

For the rest of our sleepover, Jess bugged me to go back, but I refused and wouldn't budge. The minute her mom picked her up, I planned to go talk to my dad about the freaky hatch, however I lost my nerve.

My father was my only family, my best friend, my hero, and I wasn't ready to allow any skeletons in the closet to get in the way of that. Of course, that didn't stop my fearful curiosity.

It wasn't even two nights later that I was lying awake at night in my bed, and once again, heard the odd hum. It had always made me feel safe, however now that comforting sound made me nervous and scared. What if it wasn't in my imagination? What if the sounds were real, and coming from that dark mysterious hole?

I held my breath and quieted my mind, hoping to find a source of the sound. After a few deafeningly loud beats of near silence, my eyes reflexively followed my straining ears, and finally I pinpointed that the faint sound was coming from the vent in the floor next to my bathroom.

I wasn't sure if I was relieved, or even more terrified. Perhaps the hum was nothing more than the air purring through the old ductwork, but when I found myself practically lying over the vent to try to hear it better, I became almost positive there was an actual melody to the hum. The cadence of highs and lows couldn't have been random or organic. Someone, or something, was making the soft rhythmic murmurs vocally, and now I was absolutely petrified.

I couldn't sleep that night. I just laid there for hours, staring at the ceiling, listening to the hum. When the sun finally came up, the sound stopped. So I waited. I went to school that morning, but my mind never left my bedroom, and when I was finally finished, I couldn't get home fast enough, and I continued to wait.

That night I was unsurprised to hear the humming again. I wanted to keep listening, but I ended up falling asleep right there on the floor, with my ear pressed against the vent.

I awoke the next morning angry with myself that I had succumbed to sleep, however I soon decided it was probably for the best. Spooky things always happened at night, so the safest thing to do was fake being sick to get out of school, and do my investigation during the day. In my twelve year old brain, this made perfect sense. So, as soon as my father left for the store, I grabbed my flashlight, went back to that storage closet, and opened the hatch.

"This is so dumb," I said to myself as I clinched the flashlight in my teeth, and grabbed ahold the ladder so I could descend.

Step down after step down, the hole seemed to go on forever, until finally the ladder ran out of steps. I looked down below my feet, and noticed there was about a five foot drop off before the ground. I knew I could get down without a problem, but would I be able to pull myself back up?

My head bobbed up and down between the ground and the room above where I had come from. Should I go back up, or had I come too far to give up at that point? In the end, my stubbornness persevered over my fear, and I jumped down.

It was pitch black, except for the beam of light shooting out of my flashlight, which made the cold damp musty location that much more eerie. I could only assume it was some undocumented basement, however when I flashed my light on the cracked stone walls, I was shocked to see they were surrounding rusted barred cells. It could have easily been a medieval dungeon scene from some movie, but it wasn't a movie, it was a part of my home; I had been sleeping above it for the past eight years. That realization left a frigid chill running up my spine.

"Weird," I mumbled.

The word came out of my mouth softer than a whisper, but it echoed off the walls and bounced around the room. When it reverberated back to me, the sound was followed by a faint "Bella," and I immediately jumped.

"Who's there?" I demanded. My entire body was shaking, but I couldn't run. I was absolutely paralyzed with fear.

When I heard my name again, as soft as a breeze caressing your ears on a cool fall evening, I darted my light straight to one of the barred cells.

There, staring back at me through the beam of light, was a glowing eye.

I screamed louder than I had ever screamed in my life, and I dropped the light, making everything go black…

…

* ****A/N: Anyone interested?**

Right now I'm planning for Friday updates. As the story picks up, I'll probably up it to twice a week, and when it gets closer to the end, I've been known to update every other day ;-)

**Friend me on _Facebook_ for conversations, teasers, and fun visuals for this story, as well as all my others. I go by **KC Nicnort**

*Thanks for giving this story a shot. I hope you come along for the rest of this wild ride.

~KC


	2. Haunted

****AN:** Once again, thank you to _CoppertopJ_ for pre-reading, and editing, and for making chapter collages for Facebook. I also need to thank _JA Mash_ for making me an awesome story banner. Thank you both so much.

And I want to say thank you to everyone who read and reviewed chapter 1. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the response this story has gotten so far, and I sure hope I don't disappoint you moving forward. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

...

 **Chapter 2 – Haunted**

That encounter in the basement haunted me. The brief glimpse of that glowing eye behind the bars was irrevocably burned into my retinas. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it. Every time I would shut off a light, that image would invade the darkness. Despite knowing deep down it was real, my father insisted it had been nothing more than a bad dream, and I had no choice but to believe him.

The last thing I remembered was dropping my flashlight as I screamed, and then everything went black. Sometime later, I awoke in my bed to the sight of my father's worried face as he hovered over me. He claimed it was my fever, messing with my mind. The fever that, unknown to Dad, I had only feigned to get out of school that day, but he refused to listen or believe me.

It has been five years since the incident that spurred that terrifying so-called nightmare, and I had never even considered going back down there. Some things were better left alone, and the last thing I wanted was for my father to think I was crazy. Perhaps ignorance really was bliss - at least, that's what I told myself.

It was just a horrible dream.

Ever since then, when I'd hear the humming, I mentally chanted that it was just the wind. Or the pipes. Or the electricity buzzing through the wires. There had to be a rational explanation, because I wasn't crazy, and my father wasn't a liar… _or perhaps both of those statements weren't entirely accurate._

It was just a dream. That was the only explanation I could live with, so that was the one I accepted.

However, at seventeen years old, it was so much harder to ignore some of the things I was able to as a twelve year old. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to pretend to believe everything my father said and did.

"Where have you been?" I questioned him one morning. I had woken up a little early and thought it would be nice to make him breakfast. However, with the food plated and cooling on the table, Dad was a no show. I went up to his room, but it was empty. The entire house seemed empty. The rooms, bathrooms, sitting rooms, all empty. I would have assumed he had left somewhere, but his car was still sitting in the driveway.

The clock ticked on, but it wasn't until ten minutes before my usual wake-up time that my father finally appeared.

"I-uh… Wow, did you make breakfast?" he asked, clearly trying to dodge my question.

"Yeah, a half hour ago. Where have you been? I looked all over for you."

"I was just outside…jogging," he lied horribly. When I raised a brow of disbelief, he played dumb. "What? I'm trying to get in shape. I ain't getting any younger."

I scowled at him, but just shook my head. Short of calling him a liar to his face, I had no other choice but to accept his lame excuse.

But my fearful questioning had been dormant long enough, and now my curiosity was regaining strength. My father was hiding something, and I was determined to discover the truth, once and for all.

So, for the next few nights, I spied on him. Each night he would leave the moment he thought I was sleeping. He would sneak out the back door, disappear somewhere into the night, and not return until dawn. On the third night of my stealthy surveillance, I was fully prepared, and quietly followed him.

I had no idea what to expect, but what I did see completely baffled me. Around the far side of the property, there was what looked like a dirt road that I had never noticed before. It was pretty well hidden amongst the foliage that surrounded the grounds, but it was clearly far from abandoned.

Big rig after big rig, car after car, there was a long line of traffic leading straight to the back of the manor. Each vehicle parked in an area off to the side that looked like it had been cleared a while ago.

"What the hell?" I mumbled to myself.

I snuck over to where all the extremely well dressed people were exiting their vehicles, and did my best to blend in amongst the crowd. I honestly didn't think I would get very far since they were all dressed to the nines, while I was wearing my holey jeans and hoodie, but surprisingly, no one cared or even took notice of me or my attire.

I followed everyone toward what looked like a storm shelter, hidden by brush and trees near the base of the back of the manor. With the rickety looking door wide open, a large group of us filed in, and then we narrowed ourselves into a smaller line that led down a set of fairly modern looking concrete steps. At the bottom of the steps, there was a hall, and at the end of the hall, there was a door that I quickly discovered was an elevator.

I had to wait amongst the fancy mass, while a few groups filled the elevator to capacity before me. As I waited, I listened to the strange chatter of the people there. They were speaking in all different languages, but everyone seemed strangely enthusiastic. The mood around me was eager and excited, which only confused me even more.

When it was finally my turn to go into the elevator, I could feel my heart racing so fast that I wondered if it was going to break free from my chest. The obnoxiously loud laughter of the lady standing next to me didn't help matters.

 _God, I sure hope this isn't some nasty kinky sex cult,_ – I thought to myself.

I could feel the elevator descending at a rapid pace, and it went far. It must have been several stories down before it finally came to a stop. We exited into another long hall, but this one was well lit and surprisingly wide. It was cold like you would expect an underground cave to be, which would explain all the fancy fur coats many of the people around me were wearing.

We walked a ways before I noticed a set of oversized double doors in front of us. Once we walked through, I was even more flabbergasted to see what looked like an underground stadium, with a large cage in the middle.

I looked around wide eyed, and tried to figure out what the hell I was seeing. My dad occasionally watched UFC cage fights on TV, but the cage in the middle of this arena looked four times that size. It was utterly astounding to me that all of this literally existed below my home. It just didn't make any sense whatsoever.

It took a little time, but eventually the stadium seats filled up, so I hesitantly sat in the closest vacant chair. I had no idea what I was there to witness, but somehow I knew it was going to change absolutely everything I thought I ever knew.

I scanned the large room, and spotted my father in the distance. He was sitting in what could only be described as the box seats. He too was impeccably dressed, which was odd enough considering that my dad's idea of dressy was his black jeans and grey button down flannel. He was quickly joined by four other men, all of which donned Abe Lincoln style top hats.

"What is going on, dad?" I whispered to myself.

The lights flickered, and people cheered as everyone settled into their seats.

A man, wearing a white coat tuxedo, suddenly appeared in the ring, and everyone instantly quieted.

"Thank you all for being here today. Without further ado, let the games begin," he announced. There was no microphone or amplifier in sight. It seemed everyone knew he wasn't going to be loud, which explained the synchronized hush the moment he appeared, but it also made the entire thing that much more unnerving.

The man left the cage just as swiftly as he had entered it, but from a far corner of the room, two other men approached, pushing what looked like a smaller cage between them. Inside that cage, was what I assumed was an animal of some sort, but as they drew closer to the larger cage, it became clear that the figure inside was actually a shirtless man curled in a crouched position. My mouth fell agape.

"What the hell?" I whispered under my breath.

Half a dozen men, wearing what looked like security uniforms, encircled the large cage. Each held a staff that, if my eyes weren't deceiving me, looked to be electrified at the ends. And then another small group brought out one more cage from the opposite side of the stadium. This cage held another half-naked man, but the crowd around me Ooo'd and Aww'd at sight of this particular one.

Once he was locked into the bigger cage with the other man, I narrowed my eyes, trying to see if he was a famous fighter or if there was some other reason the crowd would be so excited to see him, but despite looking vaguely familiar, I couldn't quite place him.

Then the oddest thing happened when that man, the one everyone cheered for, turned his head and looked directly at me. The light must have hit his eyes just right, because they almost appeared to be glowing, reminiscent of the subjects in old Polaroids. His reflective golden gaze pierced right through me, and it shot straight to the very core of my soul. It felt like I was locked in his stare for hours, as if suddenly I found myself lost in some complicated labyrinth of indecipherable thoughts and emotions. A thousand years could have passed and I wouldn't have known the difference. While transfixed on him, I forgot where I was, and why I had even gone there in the first place.

Despite how it felt, I knew our transfixed line of sight really could have only lasted a moment, but when he released his hold on me, I helplessly remained completely fixated on him. The way he moved, the shape of his torso, and those eerie eyes, dredged up an old, but far from forgotten memory, which was now violently clawing it's way to the forefront of my mind…

 _A dark musty basement dungeon…_

 _A golden glowing eye_.

Like a reoccurring nightmare that continued to haunt you even when your eyes were open, that man was far too familiar, and suddenly my curiosity turned into outright fear.

I wanted to look away. Actually, what I wanted to do was to run back to my bedroom and squeeze my eyes shut until I convinced myself it was all just another horrible nightmare. I felt nauseous, I honestly had no idea why I felt that way.

I could only conclude we were all there to witness some weird illegal cage fight, but then why was it terrifying me to that degree? Every hair on my body stood straight up, as if I subconsciously knew there was something far more sinister going on than an normal fight.

Was I scared of the man with the glowing eyes, or scared for him? I couldn't be sure.

Suddenly there was a loud buzzing sound that filled the entire arena. It could only be described as the sound of electricity from a broken wire, but much stronger, and much louder.

But then the buzzing was abruptly drowned out by the deafening sound of a horn. It was so loud it made me jump, and my nerves spiked to an all time high.

The two caged men started circling each other, and then the first one attacked. Both were quickly covered with sweat, spit, and blood. It was viscous and animalistic, as if we were watching two wild lions fighting to the death. My heart was racing as I watched the fight with far more interest and emotions than I ever would have predicted. I was legitimately concerned by the outcome, which only baffled me all the more.

Blow after blow, the man with the glowing eyes seemed to dominate the other one, but then there was an abrupt rumble that shook the ground and vibrated up every wall. In the blink of an eye, the other man seemingly exploded out of his skin, and standing in his place, was a giant wolf-beast.

My heart leapt into my throat, and I reflexively screamed.

Unfortunately for me, that shrill scream of terrifying shock caught the attention of several people around me, and before I even had a chance to react, I was grabbed from behind, and dragged out of the arena…

...

 *****AN: What do you think? I'm sure you can kind of see where this story is going now. Still interested? Let me know. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Questions

*****A/N:** As always, thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it!

...

 **Chapter 3 – Questions**

I was dragged out of the arena, kicking and screaming the entire way. I had no idea who was dragging me, or where they were taking me, but suddenly I found myself in an office of some sort. The men who brought me there, quickly left me alone without any kind of instructions or words uttered between them and me.

My first thought was to try to escape, but I quickly realized there was no way out. The door was locked from the outside with a key, and there were no windows to try to sneak through. So I did the only thing left to do, I looked around…

Inside the room, there was a grand desk the president would envy, a fancy looking couch, and wall to wall shelves filled to capacity with old books. My mind was going a mile a minute, and it was hard to concentrate on a singular thought, but seeing those books was mesmerizing. Most people only read electronically anymore, so seeing the old relics was like walking through a museum. My entire body was still trembling from what I had just witnessed, but I couldn't just sit there idle either, so I grabbed the first book within reach, and read the title to myself out loud.

"Cold Ones."

I flipped open the cover and read the first page. It seemed to be some sort of monster book about ancient Native American folklore. I probably could have sat there and read the entire thing, but I knew I didn't have much time. So I put it back on the shelf, and grabbed the next one.

"The Great Canadian Yeti?" I read the title with surprise. "What. The. Actual. Fuck."

I put it back, then grabbed the next one. "Witch and Warlock Covens of America… What is all of this?" I questioned with my fear morphing into one big confused question mark.

By the time I grabbed the next book, there was a sudden click of the lock on the door, which made me jump.

"Bella?" my dad said full of concern as he entered the room.

"Dad!" I nearly shouted, relieved it was him and not some random goon. "Dad, what's going on?"

"Baby, it's okay. It's all going to be okay. This is going to be one bad dream in the morning," he murmured as he wrapped me in his arms in a clear attempt to hug away whatever fear he assumed I was feeling. But at the moment, my fear had been shrouded by confusion, and when he spoke those particular words, that confusion was marred by an entirely different emotion –rage.

"What?" I spat as I pulled away from him. "You can't convince me this is a dream, dad! I know what I saw out there."

"It's okay," he maintained.

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but that was when we were interrupted by a light knock on the door.

"Mr. Swan?" the man said while peeking his head into the room.

"Doctor Jenks. Yes, please come inside," Dad told him.

It was all so confusing, but the moment the doctor walked in with a syringe in his hand, I immediately understood why he was there.

"No!" I shouted as I pushed my father away, and ran to the opposite side of the room.

"Bella, it's for the best," Dad tried convincing me.

"Drugging me with whatever the hell is in that syringe is what's best?" I asked sharply as I pointed to the doctor holding the needle.

"It's just something to help you relax," my dad replied gently, and that's when it all became clear.

"You've done this to me before, haven't you? Injected me with something to jumble my mind, only to convince me it was a dream later. Didn't you? What the hell is going on down here?" I cried with angry frustration.

My dad stared at me for a long moment, and then he hesitantly nodded. "This isn't the first time you've been down here, but Bella, you have to believe me when I tell you this is for the best. I don't want you to become a part of this world. I won't let you get sucked into it the way your mother…" He let his words trail off.

"My mother?" I questioned with hot tears streaming down my cheeks. My emotions were reaching overload. I was confused, angry, and fearful of what I didn't know.

"Sir, I can have the boys hold her down for this if you would like me to," the doctor offered.

"No!" I screamed. "I'm tired of all the questions in my mind. I feel like I'm going crazy half the time. Tell me the truth. I'm not a child anymore, I can handle it. Please," I begged him.

Charlie huffed, but I could see his resolve wavering. "Bella, this is all too dangerous for you. I refuse to let you be a part of any of it… but, if you promise to settle down and take the injection, I will answer your questions first."

"But then I won't remember any of it," I argued.

My father nodded in agreement, and that's when I realized that was the point.

"But why tell me then?" I questioned his motives.

"The more worked up you are, the more you might remember something later," he explained. "I need you to calm down. If giving you some answers right now will get you to relax and agree to take the injection without a fight, I'm willing to do that."

I crossed my arms as I considered it. What he didn't know was that regardless of whatever the hell he was injecting me with, I never actually fully forgot things. On the surface I may have allowed myself to believe the lie, but deep down I always knew my so-called dreams were actually memories in disguise.

My father had lied to me. He lied to me for so long about everything, and I didn't know how I would ever look at him the same way again.

"Fine," I agreed. "Tell me the truth before you erase it from my mind, but I want all of it."

Charlie nodded at the doctor, so he put the syringe cover on, and then set it down, before leaving us alone.

"I know this is all… hard to take," Dad started awkwardly.

"I just need answers," I told him as I dried my face and tried to steady my breathing.

"I know," he said softly. He took a seat on the couch, and gestured for me to sit next to him, so I grudgingly complied. "Bella, tell me what you remember about The Great Revolution. What did you learn in elementary school?"

I shrugged. "That people were slaves, and they rose up to take the land back for themselves."

He nodded.

"What does that have to do with what I just saw in that cage?" I asked frustrated.

"It has everything to do with that. People weren't enslaved by other people the way they teach you, Bella. What your history books purposely left out is that they were actually enslaved by monsters. Real monsters."

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

"I know it's hard to comprehend, but I'm telling you the truth. Creatures, you would call vampires, had taken over the world as the alpha race. They hunted humans for their blood until mankind neared extinction. There were a few small villages left in hiding, but for the most part, humans were kept locked away and used as blood banks. When our numbers dwindled, the vampires put every human they could find in camps, where they were bred like animals. It was a terrifying time, and our species almost didn't recover."

I shook my head. "How… Wh-what happened? How did people get the world back?"

It was such an outlandish, fantastical version of human history, and yet, I found myself believing every word my father was saying. Of course, after witnessing the monsters in the cage, I suppose it wasn't as fantastical as I previously would have assumed.

"There was a group of people – 'wild humans', they called themselves. They discovered a way to kill the vampires. They were able to do it on a mass scale, and that's how it happened. Bella, the vampire folklore you know is complete myth. The reality of the creatures is entirely different. They are cold and calculated, and have zero remorse when they kill. They see people as nothing more than cattle."

I swallowed roughly. "Okay, but what I saw down there was not a vampire."

"No, it was a werewolf. There are all different types of monsters. Vampires were just the most powerful for a long period of time, and they're the most cunning, but since we learned their weaknesses, we can now control them. These battles used to be just vampire versus vampire, but vampires are hard to come by these days. Now they're the ones almost extinct. Most fights now are werewolf versus werewolf, or werewolf versus some other type of monster. The fact that a vampire is fighting is why we have such a large turnout tonight. People travel from all over the world to see a vampire fight, and ours, in particular, is a rarity. People have paid just to see him sitting in his cage. My partners hate when I fight him for fear he will lose, but he never does, and it's what the people really want to see."

"So, that other fighter in the cage, the one with the glowing eyes… is a vampire," I concluded slowly while letting that realization sink in. "Why is he a rarity?" I then questioned. "I mean, more than any of the other vampires?"

"He is just a unique case," he said dismissively. "Bella, I really don't want to scare you. All that matters is that you know we are the alpha species now, and we have been for a long time. We are going to do everything in our power to keep it that way. We have the control. All of these books," he pointed around us. "They're all encyclopedias, if you will. They all tell the truth about the monsters who once walked amongst us. Now those monsters are the ones that are nothing more than animals. Animals locked in a zoo."

"Animals in a zoo that you force to fight," I cut him off. "How did it turn into all of this?" I questioned, pointing towards the door.

"Since humans took back the control, the vampires went back into hiding. But we knew what they were capable of, so to prevent them from rising up against us again, we have been secretly hunting them ever since. There are few left in the wild now, if any. Once in a great while someone catches one, and brings it in. The council of the UCHS, or Underground Creature Hunters' Society, decides if each monster caught should be destroyed immediately, or…"

"Or forced to fight for rich people's sick amusement?" I spat when he paused.

"In a way, that's exactly right. A lot of money gets thrown around down here. Gambling, and whatnot. There are several prominent families in the area that own fighters, but you can find this happening all over the world. Politicians, lawyers, business moguls. Hell, even presidents and royal families are involved in underground monster fights. People buy and sell them. When this tournament is over, there will be an auction for fighters people wish to sell. That's just what's done. It cost a lot of money to restrain them, so if we didn't fight them in this way, we would just end up destroying all of them."

I shook my head with disturbance. "This is like some glorified, underground, dogfighting ring. Dad, how did you get involved with this?"

"It came with this place, Bella. This manor, and this business, have been in our family since the revolution. I was born into it…and so were you. When your mom left, I swore I would never let you be a part of this. When I'm dead, I've left specific instructions to have this place, along with the fighters we own, sold. You will get the money, and you'll never want for anything. You, and your kids, and their kids, will be set for life."

"That's the second time you mentioned mom. What's the truth about mom?" I said, trying to focus on one of the few aspects I could actually grasp at the moment.

He sighed. "She left with one of our partners. I couldn't believe she would leave you, but she…" he shook his head. "She was swept off her feet by this guy. She wanted to tour the world with him. Go looking for bigger, fiercer, monsters. She was obsessed with all of this. She didn't care about living a normal life anymore."

I bit my lip as I let that sink in. My mother really did leave me for the rush of adventure. It actually made me feel like expendable crap.

Suddenly the roaring sound of cheers and applause erupted, making me jump.

"It's okay," Dad cooed. "The fight must have just ended, and by the sound of their enthusiasm, our vampire has won once more."

I was strangely relieved by that, but the entire thing was almost heartbreaking to me, and I wasn't exactly sure why. I attempted to wipe my face dry again before mumbling, "It's so loud. I've heard things before. Vibrations and thuds mainly, but nothing like this," I said questioningly.

"We're pretty far underground. Whatever you heard in the house, certainly wasn't from the arena."

If I wasn't hearing the arena, then I must have been hearing the vampire while sitting in his cage. The thought made my stomach twist.

"Where are they kept? The creatures…the fighters. Where are they when they aren't in the arena?" I asked slowly.

I couldn't help but wonder why the vampire would be locked in an area of the manor where I could hear his hums at night. My father clearly had no idea about my baffling connection to the monster, otherwise I was certain he would move him, but at that point, I wasn't sure if I wanted him moved. The vampire knew my name, and I was determined more than ever to figure out why, but I knew I had to keep that to myself.

"They're kept down here as well… Not on this level, but they're secured in electrified cells. Rest assured, sweetheart, you are safe here. Come morning you will wake up in your bed, and this will all just be one hazy dream."

I knew he was about to end the conversation, so I started firing off questions, hoping to buy myself a little more time.

"How many fighters do you actually have? How often are these fights? I can't imagine them being every night because you're always awake all day, so how would you be able to function without sleep?"

Dad sighed. "We have these tournaments quarterly, and they last about a week. It's an exhausting week. We're only on our second night, and I'm already worn out."

"Second night?" I interrupted him. "You've been sneaking out for at least four nights."

He grimaced. "How do you know that?"

I shrugged. "I've been watching you since you were late to breakfast that morning."

He huffed. "This is only the second night of the tournament, but I have been working nightly for the past week and a half to get everything ready. Me and my team. There's so much that goes into it, so I power nap in here whenever possible. Fortunately, not all of the tournaments are held here. We just happened to be hosting this quarter. Next quarter it will be in Spain, so it won't be so hectic for me."

"So, your comic con, and sky races, and guy's trip to Vegas you take every year?"

"All of those are just covers to go to these tournaments," he admitted.

"And you travel with your fighters?" I asked, thinking if the monsters were so dangerous, traveling with them would be extremely difficult.

"Some are transported in electrified big rigs, others are shipped. It depends on how far they are traveling. All have armed guards. We do it as safely as possible. Werewolves are the easiest to move, which is why they're fought the most. We give them an injection that keeps them in their humanoid form."

"But, don't they only turn when it's a full moon?" I asked.

"That use to be true, but our scientists have come up with ways to allow them to change on command."

"Well, if that's true, then why are they prisoners? Shouldn't they be allowed to live normal lives if their monster side can be controlled?"

My dad paused as he considered what I was saying, but then he shook his head. "It's too dangerous. If even one were to make themselves public, there would be mass hysteria. We keep them locked up for their own good, and for the good of the people."

"Forcing them to fight to the death is for their own good?" I retorted.

"Not all the losers die…just most of them."

"So, you're killing off the tamer, less threatening monsters, and letting the fiercer, more dangerous ones live? Smart. You know, I saw this in a movie once, only it was with dinosaurs. Here's a helpful hint, dad, the dinos escaped and killed all the people."

"That will never happen here," he tried convincing me. "And you have been scared enough for one night. I think it's time you get to bed."

I followed my father's line of sight as he looked at the syringe on the coffee table, and my anger boiled over.

"Why? I'm handling everything you have told me just fine. Why do you need to take my memories?" I said furiously.

"Bella, as I already told you, it's not safe…"

"You just said how safe it is!" I argued.

"It's for the best," he said unwaveringly.

I shook my head. "No. I don't buy it. There's something you aren't telling me."

"I told you more than enough! Now, I didn't want the men to have to hold you down. I guess I just hoped you would keep your end of the bargain and take the injection like an adult. I suppose I was wrong."

"Take it like an adult?" I spat. "Tell me, what adult would just allow someone to inject them full of drugs that jumble their brain?"

"It's for your own good. Trust me."

"Trust you? You've been lying to me my entire life. I bet half of what you told me tonight was lies too. Where is Mom? I bet you even lied about her just now. Trust you, I don't even know you. Now I know I never knew you at all.

"This conversation is over."

"Of course it is, because you know I'm done believing your bullshit."

My words clearly pissed him off more than I ever knew him to be before, but instead of erupting like I was expecting, he took a deep breath, and then softened his voice. "Listen to me, the medication only makes you forget the past twelve to twenty four hours. So, if you've really been watching me for the past few nights, you will still have some of that."

"And you'll just make up some lame ass excuse for that as well!" I argued.

"It's for the best," he maintained. "Now, I don't know how you got past the men guarding you in our house earlier, but I will make sure it doesn't happen again."

My dad reached for the syringe, but I reflexively grabbed it first. Without a moment of hesitation, I stuck that needle right into my father's arm, and pushed the medication into him.

"Bella?" he said in shock. "Don't you dare go back out there. You have no idea how dangerous all this could be…" His words trailed off as the drug quickly took affect.

"Crap," I whispered, before checking to make sure he was okay. When I was confident he was just sleeping, I tilted him over so he was lying on the couch comfortably. "Now what?" I asked myself.

I had no plan further than just protecting myself in the moment. I was hoping my father would wake up and not remember I was even down there, thus allowing me to keep my memories of the evening, however I knew there was little chance of that. Even if he couldn't remember it, there were plenty of other people who knew I was down there. Someone was bound to inform him, which only further made me angry. I still had so many questions, and I wasn't ready to forget it all.

I wondered how long it would be until my father figured it all out, so I decided to not waste what time I had left. I mentally debated whether I should spend those precious minutes or hours reading some of the countless books there, or if I should make a run for it and hope I could find a few more tangible explanations for my countless questions.

"Experiences are easier to remember than written words," I said to myself, making the decision to try to escape, even if the probability of getting very far was slim to none.

I went for the door and peeked out tentatively, expecting to see some guards, or even the doctor waiting there. Much to my relief, as well as adding to my anxiety, the hall outside the room was empty.

Since I had been dragged there kicking and screaming, I had no idea where I was, and wasn't sure how to leave, but I had to try. Perhaps if I could get to a notepad in my room, I could write everything out and hide it so when my dad ultimately messed with my brain, I would have that to help me sort through the jumbled mess.

I must have wandered around the labyrinth of hallways on that level for over twenty minutes before I finally found an elevator. Once inside, I was surprised by the alarming number of floors represented by buttons. I had a strong desire to press any of them besides the one that would likely bring me to the house level, but in the end, I decided it was best to hurry and get to my room as quickly as possible.

Once on the ground level, I found my way back to the entrance of the manor, and sure enough, there were two men in security uniforms posted by the door. How I managed to evade them on my way out, I had no idea. I waited there for a few minutes until something distracted them, and then I crept passed, amazed by how easy it was. Either my dad hired morons to babysit me, or I was just really good at sneaking around.

Once inside, I raced to my bedroom. I quickly wrote down everything I could about what I saw and what my dad had told me, and then I rolled it up tightly, and stuck it in my box of tampons. It was just about the only place I knew my dad would never look, and I would undoubtedly find it.

Once my note was safely hidden, I sat on my bed and just replayed everything I saw, over and over in my mind, hoping that those memories would be cemented permanently, and no amount of drugs could erase them.

I sat there for hours, but when the sun came back up, and no one came to get me, I tentatively went out to the kitchen, and curiously found my dad making breakfast like nothing had happened.

"Good morning," I said carefully.

"Hey, sweetheart, how'd you sleep?" he asked casually.

"Um… great. You?"

"Can't complain," he replied before handing me a plate of scrambled eggs. "Eat up. We can't be late getting you to school today. I have an appointment with my optometrist at eight thirty."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Could he really be oblivious to what happened the night before, or was he playing some weird twisted game? Either way, it was probably best to just go along with it.

"You know, if you would just help me buy a car, you wouldn't have to keep giving me rides to and from school."

He smirked. "Yeah, well unfortunately for you, I rather enjoy driving you to school."

"Right," I said, and then I ate my breakfast in utter bafflement.

I didn't even bother taking a shower that morning. Despite being dropped off at school by my dad, I had absolutely no intention of staying there. However, with my newfound knowledge of the world, I did see everything in a new light. There were a lot more cars around town than normal, and the hotels and motels were all full. I couldn't help but wonder what they all claimed was their reason for visiting such a small town in the middle of nowhere.

As I got off the public bus at the closest stop near my house, I hurried back home, and was relieved to find the front door unguarded. I carefully went back into the manor, and probably did the stupidest thing anyone could do in that situation. It was so ludicrous, that if that exact scene were to play out on the big screen, I would have thrown my popcorn and yelled how idiotic that person was. Still, I was going to use my time the only way I could think of to get the answers I needed…I was going to go back down that storage closet hatch. If my dad wasn't willing to give me all the answers I needed, maybe the glowing eyed vampire would...

...

 *****AN: Thoughts, questions, concerns?**

 **Anyone catch the "Revolution" reference? ;-)**

 **I can't wait to read your comments. Thanks again!**

 **~KC**


	4. Memories

**Chapter 4 – Memories**

I should have been terrified. Every instinct I had should have been screaming at me to turn around and go back, but as I made the somewhat familiar descent down the long ladder into the dark basement dungeon, I strangely felt no fear. On the contrary, I was buzzing with eager anticipation, and I honestly wasn't sure why.

The drop off from the ladder to the ground was much shorter than what I remembered from my faux dream I had at twelve, and I landed on the basement ground with ease.

The cool musty air of the dungeon sent a chill up my spine, but I still wasn't scared. It wasn't until I approached the cell that my nerves finally spiked, but it was for an entirely different reason than I would have expected. It was too familiar. Despite needing to discover the truth, I knew without a doubt that my life would never be the same again. Whatever the vampire was going to tell me would change everything. I knew it deep inside my gut, and it was devastating just as much as it was necessary. I loved my dad, but after that day at the arena, I was certain I would never look at him the same again.

"Hello?" I tentatively called through the bars. "Vampire?"

There was no answer, and as I took another step closer, I realized the cell was empty, which caused a sinking feeling I wasn't prepared for.

 _Perhaps he didn't survive the arena after all._

The very idea of my phantom hummer being defeated, evoked an emotion in me I didn't quite understand. He had always seemed to be there. For as long as I could remember, that humming had lulled me to sleep. Even when I didn't understand it, I was both scared and comforted, and I wasn't sure how I felt thinking I would never hear it again.

I sat there for a moment and tried to process my emotions, but it seemed pointless. How could I process something I couldn't even comprehend?

After a few minutes, I decided to distract the helpless befuddlement in my mind, by taking some time to truly look around the space. My dad had said there were other monsters there. Apparently our family owned several monsters, but then, where were they? Surely we didn't lose all of the matches that night, right?

There were definitely multiple cells in that dungeon. Some even had what looked like bones of dead animals on the ground, which I could only assume was the monsters' food. As I continued to look around, I was feeling more and more nauseous. The conditions in there were disgusting, and it only made my resentment towards my father grow. How could he treat any being that way? It didn't matter if they were monsters, they deserved better.

I walked the entire length of the dungeon, and when I reached the furthest point, I was unsurprised to see another elevator. I was worried about being caught by one of my father's goons, but I couldn't turn back at that point. I needed to figure out where they kept the fighters. I needed to figure out every aspect I possibly could about that place.

Inside the elevator, I was, once again, stumped as to which of the multitude of buttons to press, however these buttons were labeled differently than the previous elevator I had been in. The one on top was labeled G, and the one below was labeled with a letter D. Below that there was an L button, and then five buttons labeled with a C that seemed to count down from C5 through C1. Then finally at the very bottom was a button labeled A.

The button currently lit was the D button, therefore I concluded it stood for dungeon, which then would stand to reason that level G was the ground floor above me, and A stood for the arena. I had no idea what L could possibly be, or what the C stood for. It was all very confusing, but I wasn't about to stand there for a moment longer, so I randomly pressed the C5 button, and hoped for some understanding on matter.

The elevator quickly descended, and when it stopped, I waited for the doors to open. I tentatively exited, and was absolutely shocked by what I found. It was a long open hallway with railing on one side, and cage, after cage, after cage, on the other. I looked down over the rail, and I could clearly see the other levels that presumably made up the other C's. It became painfully obvious that each level C held what looked exactly like prison cells. Five floors of prison cells, and these cells were far from empty.

My presence must have been detected by the inmates, because suddenly shouting and whistling commenced. It echoed off the walls, making it so loud that it was almost hard to hear the thoughts running through my own head.

"Holy shit," I mumbled to myself slowly.

Between all five floors, there had to have been at least a hundred cells. It was sick and twisted, and absolutely maddening. I knew they couldn't possibly be all of my family's personal fighters, so I concluded the cells held the visiting fighters as well, which I suppose made sense. They couldn't exactly keep them with them in their hotels, but it was surely a shocking sight to see.

I took a few steps closer to the cells, hoping to get a better look at the monsters, but I was surprised by the very human looking faces staring back at me. Each cell only held one fighter, and as I walked past them, I was shocked by their behavior. While most were being loud and acting animalistic due to my presence, some remained quiet and still, and wouldn't even attempt to make eye contact.

I looked into every single cell on that floor, and then I took the staircase that led down to the C4 level. I took my time to look into all of those cells as well. So many faces. So many emotions.

When I went down to the next level, I was even more shocked to see they were all women. Many of them twisted their features to scowl at me, but not a single one of them tried to speak, and I was beginning to wonder if they were even capable of it.

Level C2 was also full of women, but when I went down to C1, I was shocked to see just how very different the prisoners there were. Not humanoids whatsoever, the prisoners on level C1 were beasts. The strong buzzing sound of electricity filled that floor, and the snarling and growling was almost deafening. They made even the worst horror films look like sweet children's stories, and for the first time since I saw that werewolf in the arena, I was scared.

I could feel my heart racing, my muscles tensed, and my back had even unintentionally arched against the cold cement wall behind me. It was almost painful to stand there and look at them, but worst of all was the stench. The beasts smelled beyond repulsive. Like the rotting flesh and putrid bile of a wet dog that rolled in his own feces. It was by far the foulest thing I had ever inhaled, and it honestly made me want to retreat far more than my fear.

I couldn't stand there for a moment longer, so I sped back towards the elevator, but just before I reached it, the sound of my name made me stop dead in my tracks.

It was only a whisper, as light as a breeze on an autumn day, and it was drowned out by all the loud rumbling of the monsters around me, but somehow I still heard it.

"Bella," I heard again, so I slowly walked back the way I had just come from. The beasts were still growling at me, but between two snarling werewolf cells, there was one that I must have overlooked as I raced by. It didn't hold a beast, but another humanoid – a humanoid with glowing eyes.

"You," I said quietly.

He was standing far back in the shadows of his cell, so it was hard to see his face, but there was no mistaking his eyes. "Vampire… come closer so I can see you," I told him as strongly as possible.

He took one step towards me, so that the light only barely touched his face, and I couldn't help but gasp. The vampire was inhumanely beautiful, but what shocked me most was his familiarity. I knew him, far beyond his humming in the night or the brief distant glimpse I got of him the night before in the arena. I knew his perfect face just as well as I knew my mother's, I only wished I could recall the memories that went along with his image.

"Bella," the vampire repeated, and my heart sped even faster.

"How do you know me?" I asked him.

His head cocked to the side eerily. "Has your father been messing with your mind again?"

Another loud growl rumbled from the next cell over, making me jump.

"Easy now. They can't hurt you here," the vampire practically cooed.

"How do you know me?" I asked again.

"We're friends," he said unexpectedly. "Or, at least, we use to be. I haven't seen you in a while."

"How long?" I asked shakily.

"How long have we been friends? Why, I've known you your whole life," he said slowly. His tone was quiet, almost mincing, which made his words sound sinister like some mysterious villain in a movie. "You use to bake me cookies, and we would play tea party," he added unexpectedly. "You don't remember? No, I suppose you wouldn't. Not with your father's mind scrambling drugs. Of course, you were a lot smaller then. Only this high." He held his hand out flat just below his waist. "I do owe you an apology for when you came to visit me a few months ago. I never meant to frighten you."

"A few months ago?" I said confused.

"In the dungeon. You had a flashlight, but then you screamed, and one of your father's goons heard and grabbed you. They don't want you visiting me anymore."

I bit my bottom lip, and then shook my head. "That was over five years ago."

"Really?" he replied, seemingly sincerely surprised. "Well, time definitely slips away down here. But now that I'm looking at you, you've definitely grown since then. You resemble your mother now."

"My mother?" I questioned. "You knew my mother too?"

"Of course. She was also my friend. She was the one who would bring you to see me."

The vampire moved slowly back into the shadows, but my eyes remained locked on him. I reflexively reached for the bars that separated us, but before my hands could make contact, the vampire reappeared. He moved like lightning, and he was suddenly only inches away.

"Don't touch them!" he hissed at me, making me freeze in place. "The bars are electrified. The shock would kill you."

I slowly brought my hands back to my body, and held them against my chest for a moment. "I… I didn't realize. Thank you for warning me."

"I don't think Renee would appreciate me letting her only child be electrocuted to death," he mumbled while walking back into the shadow once more.

"Do you know what happened to her?" I questioned carefully. It didn't seem logical that a prisoner would know such a thing, but for whatever reason, I just somehow knew that he did.

"Yes," he replied casually.

"Where did she go?" I asked anxiously.

"What did your father tell you?"

"That she left with one of his partners."

The vampire moved back into a beam of light, and grimaced. "He's a liar. You know that, don't you?"

I swallowed roughly, and then hesitantly nodded. "Can you tell me the truth?"

"That all depends. Are you here to keep your promise to me, Bella?"

I shook my head with bafflement. "What promise?"

"Your promise to free me. The last time we talked, you promised you would help me get out of here. Is that why you've finally come?"

"I… I don't remember promising you anything," I said flummoxed.

"That doesn't matter. A promise is still a promise, or have you become a liar like your father?"

"You just told me we haven't spoken since I was a small child," I argued. "You can't hold me to a childhood promise that I can't even remember."

"You use to be my friend, Bella. You said you would help me, and now I need that help more than ever. You coming down here today isn't random. It's fate. I have to get out of here tonight."

"You must have been one of my family's fighters for a long time," I questioned as I considered his request.

"Since before your father was born," he confirmed.

I raised my brows. "He's fifty years old."

"So I've been here longer than that," he reiterated.

"Wow…Okay, so what's the urgency then? Why do you need to get out of here tonight?"

"Tonight I'm scheduled to fight one of the biggest werewolves known… I'm not concerned really, they're easy enough to kill, but then tomorrow night I will be forced to fight in the so-called championship match. I heard it's against a vampire. I can't win that fight."

"But, aren't you a vampire?" I questioned.

"Am I?" he countered strangely.

"Aren't you?" I retorted.

He stared at me for a long moment, as if he was trying to dig deep inside my mind in an attempt to unscramble the mess my father made, but then he sighed. "I can't beat this vampire. I need your help, Bella. If that's not why you're here, then you should probably just go before you're caught."

I huffed. "You're eyes aren't glowing anymore," I said, just realizing that fact as I was looking into his now golden brown irises.

"They only reflect light the way cats' eyes do," he explained with annoyance. "You use to call me a lion because of it…which you clearly don't remember. Are you going to help me, Bella?" he asked impatiently.

I bit my lower lip. "How? Where would you even go? The creature hunters would just bring you right back?"

He scoffed. "You mean those inept wannabe soldiers with taser guns? I know how to evade them."

"Then why were you caught in the first place?" I asked condescendingly.

"I was young, and far less experienced then. I have learned from my mistakes and I guarantee it won't happen again."

"If I let you out, you'll just kill people."

"I don't necessarily need to kill anyone to survive, but it sure feels good to take out those who have wronged you. I can promise you this, I would only kill people who deserve it."

I shook my head slowly. "You would get caught. In fact, I'm shocked I haven't been caught in here yet. Where are the security guards?"

"Getting everything ready for tonight's games. They're confident in their security system here. No need to have constant men guarding the area."

"Aren't there security cameras in here at least?" I asked while looking around.

"The particular electric frequency necessary to hold us in interrupts other electrical devices. Cameras are useless here. It's a wonder they have figured out how to keep the lights on."

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. "Why are you down here instead of in the dungeon where you were the last time I saw you?"

"Tournament. They bring me down here to be closer to the arena, and for a little socialization," he said condescendingly. As if in cue, the monster in the next cell growled ferociously again.

"Why are those werewolves not in their human form?" I asked, desperate to know everything I possibly could.

"I'm no scientist, but I would guess that they have had an adverse reaction to the synthetic medication they use on them. They're stuck in that form permanently now. It actually makes them stronger in the arena, but they're a bitch to transport."

I raised a brow at him, and wondered if he really actually just made a joke.

"I can sense your hesitation in helping me," the vampire continued. "But I know you ultimately will. You're a good person... like your mother."

"And you're a manipulative monster," I retorted, certain he only kept bringing up my mother as a way to get to me.

"That may be true, but so is your father, and I would imagine you are too, even if you don't realize it."

"We're humans, not monsters," I countered.

"Humans are the very worst of the monster species in this world," he disagreed. "At least most other creatures kill for survival. Humans kill for greed or sport. It's sick, really. Just look around at what humans have done."

"And from what I heard, vampires did the same to humans back before the revolution."

"Again, that was for survival. Humans are vampire's prey. Do you condemn lions for killing gazelles?"

"No, but you can't blame us for trying to protect ourselves either," I argued.

"This goes far beyond protection. Even you must admit that. Vampires are intelligent beings, surely we can control ourselves if given the chance. Let me prove it to you. Open this cell. I won't kill anyone unjustly."

I shook my head slowly. "I'm sure you feel every human in this facility deserves it, especially my father. I can't just let you kill him."

He smirked at me. "Your father deserves a fate worse than death, and whether you set me free or not, he will get his. I promise you that."

I bit my bottom lip, and slowly continued to shake my head. "Why would I believe your promise?"

"Because you do. You trust me, even if you don't understand it. Your mother trusted me too, and she asked me to protect you. I can't do that from in here."

"Why would I need to be protected?" I asked warily. "Humans are in power. I'm safe as long as the other monsters are locked away in here."

"Power is like spokes on a wheel. Vampires are on top, then humans, and then werewolves….Well, never werewolves, they're not that smart. But it's only a matter of time until vampires take back over. It's the way it's always been. I will protect you, Bella. Let me out."

"How can vampires take over when they're all locked up?" I questioned.

"There are still plenty out there in the wild. They will rise up."

"It's been hundreds of years," I disagreed.

"That's nothing to the immortal. It will happen sooner than you think. In your lifetime. These creatures will get their revenge, starting with killing everyone in this facility. I will protect you. Now let me out before it's too late!" he demanded, getting increasingly more agitated. His perfect features twisted, and his eyes raged, and suddenly I became frightened.

I reflexively moved to take a step back, but before my foot could even flatten against the ground behind me, I was grabbed and pulled forward. I didn't even realize it was the vampire who had reached through the bars to get ahold of me, but my face was being firmly held within an inch of the highly electrified bar.

"You will see!" he growled at me. His other hand reached through the bars as well, and the moment it made contact with the skin on my cheek, I was catapulted into some kind of violent vision. It completely consumed me so that there was no seeing through it, and it truly felt as real as the world around me.

 _In the vivid daydream, I was being terrified by what I could only describe as evil personified. In my mind I was a petrified child, trembling in a cold concrete corner, as that horrifying being approached. I knew it would be excruciating, but I chanced a look at the figure anyway, and the familiar image of my great-grandfather's younger face was raging back at me. And then there was pain. So much pain. I felt it all over my body, and I screamed out through the darkness._

As quickly as the image had hit me, it disappeared the moment the vampire released me from his grasp. I fell to my knees as the intense trembling followed me out of the vision and invaded my reality. The sound of my heavy panting drowned out the rest of the monster noises around me, and the pulsating, fear induced, rapid blood flow racing through my body was making me feel dizzy.

"I'm sorry," the vampire's voice murmured after a few moments. "I just wanted you to see. I didn't intend for it to be that intense. I'm out of practice with my vision sharing."

I took a deep breath, and then looked up at the vampire looking down on me remorsefully from behind the bars.

"What was that?" I asked between my heavy breaths. "It felt like…"

"A memory," he confirmed.

"But… not mine. My great-grandfather… I had only ever seen him at that age in old pictures."

"It wasn't your memory. You weren't born yet… Your grandfather was only a baby then."

"It was your memory," I concluded. "But how did you put it into my mind?"

"It's a gift I have. It's not as useful as it use to be."

"You… you were just a ch-child?" I questioned, feeling so much more confused than ever before.

"The real monsters aren't the ones in these cages," he told me gravely. "Please help me, Bella. You are the only one who ever would."

"I…"

I was still reeling from what I had just experienced, and I had no idea what to think or say, but it quickly didn't matter. There may not have been anyone guarding that area, but someone was definitely coming.

"I..I.." I repeated, feeling lost while looking at the defeated looking vampire before me.

"You need to get out of here. Don't let them see you," he warned me. "There is an auction tonight. You'll have the opportunity to sneak back. Please come set me free. I need to find my family. Bella, please…"

The sound of someone approaching grew louder, so I looked back at him apologetically, and then ran for it.

Somehow I easily found my way back to the manor, and even managed to evade people as I snuck through more crowded areas. I went right to my bedroom, locked myself inside, and collapsed on the bed crying. The pain from that vision wouldn't leave me, and it was almost too much to take. It honestly made me sick, and after taking a couple hours to decompress and consider absolutely everything, I knew exactly what I had to do….


	5. Defiance

**Chapter 5 – Defiance**

With a plan clear in my mind, I quietly made my way to my dad's bedroom. I knew he was in the arena complex below preparing for that evening's events, but I still needed to be careful. If, for some reason, he decided to come up to the manor unexpectedly, I had to be ready to hide. He couldn't know I knew the truth yet, otherwise everything would be seriously fucked.

In the back corner of Dad's closet, I found what little he had left of my mom's clothes. Behind the couple of sundresses, and a few of her blouses, there was a singular red gown. I remembered seeing her wear it once, and thinking she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I knew I wouldn't look half as perfect in that dress as she did, but I took it back to my room anyway, and hid it in the corner of my own closet.

After enduring a strangely quiet dinner with my dad that evening, we awkwardly sat through two episodes of CSI. I was antsy to get my plan in motion, however I knew we would never have a normal quiet evening together like that again, so I tried like hell to fully absorb it. I would always love my father, no matter what, and I would miss those peaceful times with him.

With the hour growing late, I regretfully said goodnight, and gave my dad an extra long hug before heading up to my room to pretend to go to bed. I had a feeling he would check on me before he went below to the arena, and I was right. I faked sleep, and waited an additional half hour before finally getting back up. That night was going to be pivotal, I only hoped I was fully prepared for everything that went with it.

I went to my bathroom, put my hair in a quick up-do, plastered on more make up than I ever wore before, and lined my lips with the red lipstick I had only bought for my Halloween costume a few months prior. I then slipped on my mother's dress. It was slightly too big, but I was able to pin it in a couple areas and make it work. After one last glance at myself in the mirror, I took another deep breath, and then made my way towards the back of the manor where a line of people were sure to be.

I smiled politely at everyone as I blended myself into the crowd, and made my way into the now familiar elevator.

Like the night before, I took my seat in the stadium, and waited for the fight to begin. My nerves were buzzing even more than the last time, but it wasn't from the fear of the unknown. I knew exactly what I was about to witness, and in a way, it only made it worse.

As the stadium began to fill up, cigars were being passed around to those in the front couple of rows, which gave the entire arena a smoky haze. _As if it could get any creepier._

The man in the white tux soon reappeared, and he made his announcement. He left again quickly, and in came the first cage. As opposed to the last fight, this werewolf was transported in his beast form, and he was shockingly twice the size as all the others I had seen. He was absolutely massive, and once again, a chill ran up my spine making me quiver.

The beast's deafening snarls and growls reverberated off of the walls around the stadium, and echoed through every inch of my body. Every time he made his loud vocalizations, it affected me on a physical level. It honestly felt as if daggers were piercing my flesh, and a hammer was pounding my brain. I couldn't help but wince through the pain.

They brought in my humming vampire next, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned for him. The crowd cheered his presence, but I held tightly onto my chair with all the strength my palms were capable of.

For a reason I didn't understand, the vampire turned his head and looked right at me once again. He didn't even need to search me out in the crowd; somehow he just knew I was there, and he knew exactly where I was. His eyes were shouting out his emotions to me, I only wished I understood the language. Regardless of my ignorant mind, my body reacted with extreme tension, and every muscle in my body tightened.

The horn quickly sounded, and the fight began. I was so nervous that I couldn't even tell if I was still breathing or not, but I couldn't revert my eyes either. The vampire began pacing as he zeroed in on his opponent, but the werewolf seemed to have no thought of strategy. He was all beast, and completely animalistic. He attacked, and the vampire managed to dart out of his way. With the roaring of the crowd, the game of cat and mouse in the arena continued until the beast was noticeably tiring, and then the vampire attacked it.

The growling shook me again, and the sound of tearing flesh was something I knew I'd never forget. The beast was snapping his huge fangs, and flailing around. He landed some strikes to the vampire's torso, but somehow the vampire managed to dismember the beast's leg, sending blood squirting all over the crowd in the front seats. I would have been horrified had I been sitting there, but the spectators disturbingly squealed in delight, like some sick heathens in a gruesome cult. They almost seemed enthralled, or even considered themselves lucky to be over-sprayed by werewolf blood. It was absolutely nauseating.

With the beast down, the crowd chanted for the vampire to finish him. He looked up towards the box seats, so I followed his line of sight right to where my father was sitting. With a simple head nod from Charlie, my eyes darted back to the ring just in time to see the vampire pick up the head of the beast, and twist it hard and fast, thus killing it.

It was such a mix of emotions. I immediately felt a sense of relief from the beast being defeated, however I was also sickened by it. The beast had clearly lost the fight already, he didn't need to be killed in addition. There just was no sense in it.

As the crowd went wild, I couldn't peel my eyes away from the vampire, who was clearly ambivalent. He appeared relieved, and a bit complacent, but under it all I could have sworn he was remorseful as well. As much as he hated werewolves, based on our prior conversation, I knew he didn't want to be forced to kill them for sport. It was monstrous, and I needed to do something about it.

With the match over, I figured everyone would be on their way, so I steeled myself, and hurried over to where my father was still sitting. He, and the other important looking assholes, were shaking hands and boasting about the vampire's win, when I decided to not so subtly make my presence known…

"Wow, I do have to say, that was an awesome fight," I said with as much confidence as I could muster.

"Bella?" my dad said, obviously shocked to see me. His face flooded with heat, and he was beyond flustered.

I ignored him.

"Hi, I'm so sorry we haven't met yet. I'm Isabella Swan, Charlie's daughter," I said with an outstretched hand to the man on my right.

"Why, Charles, I didn't realize you had a daughter," the chubby, bald, midlife crises waiting to happen, said. He took my hand, but instead of shaking it, he kissed my knuckles. "It's a pleasure. I'm Frank Whitfield. This is Malcom McGinnis, and Thomas Brown," he introduced the others.

"I'm so happy to finally meet all of you. My dad talks non-stop about all of you, and these tournaments."

"Does he now?" Mr. Whitfield said with a raised brow.

"Well, you know, he does to me anyway," I tried back-stepping, not wanting my dad to be in too much trouble with them. "This is all hush-hush and all, but we discuss it in the privacy of our own home. I do know how much he enjoys these events. I'm so excited to finally be learning the business for when I take over one day."

One of the other men turned to the very confused looking Charlie. "I thought you said you would be selling everything off one day, rather than pass it to your daughter?"

"Uh…" Dad was befuddled, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing.

"Well, I think it's excellent!" Mr. Brown interjected. "We need to keep all of this within our founding families. It's the only way to preserve it the way it should be."

"Exactly!" I feigned agreement.

"Is this your first fight, my dear?" Mr. McGinnis asked me.

"Oh, no. I've seen a few now," I semi-lied. "But only this week. This is my first tournament. I would have introduced myself yesterday, but I was just trying to keep a low profile until I was sure this is what I wanted to be doing."

"So, you are joining this marvelous underground world with us then? You must be enthralled?" Mr. Whitfield questioned.

I forced out a smile. "Indeed."

"Uh, Bella is still in school, so she must be going back to the manor now," Charlie said anxiously.

"Nonsense!" Mr. Whitfield disagreed. "This is her first tournament. She should learn what goes into being a good host. Our children are the future of this sport, my friend, it's best they learn the correct way of doing it." He turned back to me. "Well, where have you been sitting, my dear? I insist you join us here for the next match. Someone, get her a cigar."

"She doesn't smoke," Dad grumbled.

"The next match?" I questioned confused, thinking there was only one per evening.

"Certainly," Mr. Whitfield confirmed. "It would be a huge waste for us all to come here for only one match a night. Now this is where it gets interesting. The winner of the last match, your vampire, will face the winner of this next match tomorrow in the championship."

I nodded in understanding. "And…another vampire is about to fight?" I assumed, knowing my vampire was worried about the so called championship match.

"Precisely," Mr. Whitfield said excitedly. "This next vampire is mine. It has never lost, and is absolutely lethal."

"From my understanding, our vampire has never lost either," I told him, before politely declining the cigar brought out to me by one of the guards.

"Yes, your vampire is cunning," Mr. Whitfield agreed, "but he is weak compared to my vampire. Well, you'll see," he said as the lights flickered and the man in the white tux reentered the ring.

"Bella, you need to go back up to your room," my dad tried insisting.

"Hush now, Charles. She needs to learn," Mr. Brown dismissed him.

My dad tried to give me that stern look, but I refused to obey. There were far too many witnesses of my presence there at that point, and with me donned in vivid crimson amongst the mostly dark suited crowd, I was sure I was widely noticed. Whatever happened from that moment on, I knew my father would never be able to drug me into ignorance again, which was a victory I couldn't even measure.

Charlie fumed, but there was nothing he could say or do in front of his fellow disgusting monster owners. So I smirked defiantly, and then our attention was diverted back to the arena.

The caged fighter brought in next was different than the previous beast, this one was not a werewolf at all. He too stood upright, and was just as monstrous as the werewolves, however his eyes glowed red and he had huge horns that curved backwards like a goat.

"El Diablo," Mr. Brown leaned in to tell me haughtily. "He is my beast. Isn't he beautiful?"

"Uh…" I was speechless. However when they brought out the monster's opponent, I was even more speechless. "A…wo-woman?" I managed to force out.

"My vampire is female, yes," Mr. Whitfield said. "And she will prevail."

"My demon has never lost either," Mr. Brown argued with a pompous grin.

"This will certainly be an entertaining match," Mr. McGinnis said eagerly.

The gigantic goat-man roared like a bear, and it was hard to imagine how a petite female could possibly win, even if that female was a vampire. She was tiny compared to the beast, and her wild matted hair and torn clothing just made her look pitiful. However the moment she was locked in the ring, she hissed like a cat, and immediately climbed the cage so she was hanging upside down over the beast. She looked around wildly, and when I was able to get a better glance at her face, I was shocked by the dark rings under her eyes, and her blacker than night irises. She legitimately made Linda Blair from the Exorcist look sweet, and suddenly I feared her victory. My vampire was right, he may not win if he faced her in the next match.

But then she did the oddest thing…

"What is she doing!" Mr. Whitfield screamed as he jumped up from his seat.

The vampire had dropped from the top of the cage, and was distractedly smelling the blood left from the previous battle.

"Fight, you wretched whore!" Mr. Whitfield shouted at her.

"No need for that language!" my dad scolded him. "My daughter is here."

"My apologies," Mr. Whitfield said distractedly. "Come on! He is right on top of you!"

"It's the smell of the blood," Mr. Brown snickered. "You're a fool for starving her. She can't take it."

"Her bloodlust usually makes her stronger," Mr. Whitfield disagreed. "She feeds on her opponent. What is she doing?"

The ring wasn't cleaned between matches, therefore still full of blood from the previous fight, but the vampire was completely fixated on one particular small splatter. She dipped her finger in it, and inhaled it deeply, and then she looked around the arena in what I could only describe as sheer panic.

" _Edward_!" she screamed out in such agony that it honestly sounded like she was being tortured by the worst kind of pain imaginable. It was hard to look at her in that state without feeling it as well. It was unbearable, but her cries didn't last, because the goat-man grabbed her from behind, and flung her across the arena.

She quickly recovered herself, but instead of engaging in the fight, she glared up at where we were sitting, and started screaming at us.

"Where is he? You stole him from me!"

She was grabbed again, and thrown against the opposite side of the cage, but it still didn't stop her. She darted back and stuck her arm out towards us, careful not to touch the electrified bars.

"I will get out of here, rip all of the limbs from of your bodies, and feed you to the wolves!"

She was thrown once more, but this time it just seemed to annoy her, so she jumped on the back of the beast, grabbed a hold of it's horns, and then ripped its head clean off its shoulders. I gasped from the shock of it, which made my father stand to try to block my view.

"You're done. Go back up to the house," he tried ordering me, however the female vampire wasn't finished with her threats, and this time they were directed at him.

"You will never be safe, Swan!" she screeched. My dad turned slowly, and I looked around him at the vampire, who was now horrifyingly soaked with the beast's blood. "I will hunt you down and destroy your life. I will kill your children, and their children. I will dance in their blood until it dries on my skin, and I will wear it proudly until it flakes off. BRING ME BACK MY BABY!"

"That's enough!" my dad shouted back. "Get her out of here," he commanded the guards. "Put her in the dungeon so she stays separated from the other monsters, and keep men down there at all times until I tell you otherwise."

"I apologize, Charles," Mr. Whitfield mumbled dumbfounded. "I will be harsh with her discipline."

"You need to have that monster shipped out tonight, and don't ever bring it back here," my dad told him angrily.

"Charles, be reasonable," Mr. Brown stepped in. "She fights in the championship tomorrow. I'm sure your security team can handle her."

"They can't stop me. Nothing can!" the vampire screamed, recapturing their attention once more. The guards shocked her with their electrified sticks, but she just wouldn't quiet. "I know what you did, Chuck. I know what you're hiding!"

They shocked her again, which made her pause long enough for me to question my dad. "Chuck?"

"My grandfather went by Chuck," Dad explained absently. "I suppose I do look like him a bit."

The moment the vampire recovered from her shock, she stood again and continued her erratic threats. "You will be exposed, and everything you hold dear will be ripped from you. Do you hear me, Swan? You will know my pain!"

Another guard shocked her with his stick at the same time, and finally the female vampire fell to the ground in convulsions. They managed to get her back into the transport cage, and wheeled her away. The entire stadium was quiet for a long moment, but then everyone erupted into cheers once more. It was absolutely disgusting, and I was buzzing with the most intense feelings I had ever experienced before.

It was all so confusing, and I had no idea what to make of any of it, but one thing was for certain, I was utterly heartbroken for that vampire, I only wished I understood why.

In the chaos of the crowd's applause, and the loud chattering amongst my dad and the men sitting with us, I slipped away and tried to avoid my father. I knew the moment he got me alone I would be in deep shit, but at that moment, I really didn't care. I would not stop at that point.

I ducked into the mass, but followed them to where I could only assume was the auction area. It was a banquet room, adjacent to the arena, and it was full of linen lined tables that surrounded a small stage.

I hid in the back as everyone found their seats. I didn't see my dad anywhere, which only worried me. I needed him to be there, otherwise the last part of my plan would go out the window.

A man in chains was brought out to the stage, and placed in a large cage. Everyone quieted to watch that man be injected with some kind of drug, and a beast erupted from his skin. The auction immediately began, and everyone excitedly watched or took part in the bids. Starting bid was fifty thousand, and it was quickly rising.

Finally my dad entered the room with the other three men, and they made their way to the head table. I knew he would be stuck there for a while, which was exactly what I needed. I took his distraction and went on my way. I wasn't exactly sure where to go, however as I looked for the elevator, I randomly ran past my dad's office, and suddenly had an idea.

The door handle was stuck, and as I wiggled it, I momentarily thought it was locked. To my surprise, after trying one more time with a little more force, the door opened, so I immediately went inside and straight to my dad's computer. After a few incorrect passwords, I entered my mother's birthday, and was pleasantly surprised that I was granted access to all his files.

I wanted to sit and read everything I possibly could, but I knew I didn't have time for that, so I fumbled around in his desk drawers, and found a few flash drives and began downloading.

As I anxiously waited, I happened to open one more drawer, and gasped as I found a huge wad of hundred dollar bills.

"Holy crap," I mumbled to myself. I had always been under the impression that we didn't have much money, so seeing cash like that was shocking. Then again, in the grand scheme of everything I discovered recently, the money was definitely not the most surprising aspect, so I shrugged it off as just one more thing my dad had lied about. I figured it was blood money from the fights, but that didn't stop me from taking the entire wad and putting it in my handbag. In that same drawer, under where the money had been, was what looked like a small taser gun, so I took that too.

"No turning back now," I said with a deep breath.

I grabbed the flash drives, and then got up to leave, but a picture of my mother holding me as a toddler caught my eye. It was sitting there beside the computer, so I broke the glass, and pulled the picture out of the frame to put in my bag as well, and headed out of the room.

I wasn't sure how long the auction would last for, so I raced to the back elevator, and hit the C1 button.

The caged prisoners seemed already hyped and agitated, but when they detected my presence, that only intensified. I did my best to ignore them as I ran back to where my vampire was kept before. I wasn't sure if he would be put back there after his fight, but thankfully, there he was. He was hunched over in his cell, wearing a plain white t-shirt and a clean-ish pair of pants. He looked disheveled, but nowhere near as bad as he should have after just surviving a fight against a beast, which only added to his mysteriousness.

"Bella," he greeted me casually, without even glancing up in my direction.

"You," I replied, having no idea what else to call him. "You won your fight, I see."

"Do you even care?" he replied despondently, before finally raising his eyes to meet mine. His brows lifted. "I see you dressed up for me. I believe that is the very same dress your mother wore to her last fighting event."

"It is?"

I had to stop myself from asking more questions about my mother, because it simply didn't matter at the moment.

"I'm not here to talk about my mom. I've come to… make a decision on you."

"Does that mean you're still unsure? What can I say to ease your mind?"

"I need to know what comes next? Where do you go from here?"

He smirked at me devilishly, and that was when I noticed the small cut over his right eye that seemed to be disappearing rapidly.

"You're already recovering from your fight injuries?" I commented.

"I'm a quick healer," he replied while standing and approaching the bars that separated us. "Let me out, Bella, and we can discuss anything you want. I can even show you my memories of your mother, if you would like."

"Answer my question!" I demanded. "What is your plan for getting past all the guards here, and if you do make it, where will you go?"

"Why don't you ask me your real question," he redirected. "You want to know if I will attempt to kill your father."

"Well, will you?" I asked.

He seemed to roll over the idea in his mind, and a hint of a smile formed on the corner of his lips, but he fought it off.

"He deserves worse… and he will get his eventually, whether you let me out or not. But if my promise is what will get you to help me, then you have it."

"Why do I feel like you're spinning that in some way? I just need you to say it straight forward."

"You have my word I will not kill your father when I get out of here," he reiterated evenly.

I stared him down for a long moment, and I could almost recall a memory of him from my childhood. It was so close to the forefront of my mind, but it was just barely out of my reach. I had no reason to believe him, or trust him, but the feelings that accompanied my forgotten memory were intense. It was extremely warm, and in the weirdest of all of the weird, I felt peculiarly safe with him. But above everything else, the female vampire's scream of agony in the arena wouldn't stray far from my thoughts, and I had an overwhelming need to help in some way. For whatever reason, I just knew opening that lock was something I just had to do. For the female fighter, for the hummer before me, and for all of them.

"How do I open it?" I mumbled almost incoherently.

The vampire smirked. "There is a lever behind you that will shut off the electric current just to this cell."

"This one?" I asked him, feeling as if my heart was about to beat out of my chest.

He must have sensed my anxiety, because he took a step forward, and tried to calm my nerves. "Bella… I would never hurt you, or let anyone else hurt you either. I swore that to your mother, and now I'm swearing it to you. You can trust me," he said with more conviction than I had ever heard from anyone before in my life – and suddenly I believed him wholeheartedly.

"Okay," I said with a new bout of confidence.

I reached for the lever once more, but that was the moment all hell broke loose…


	6. Naïveté

**Chapter 6 – Naïveté**

Just as I was about to pull the lever to turn off the electrical current to my vampire's cell, all hell broke loose…

"Bella, stop!" I heard my father shout at me, so I reflexively turned in his direction, and my stomach dropped. He was hastily running towards me with several people in tow, including four guards. "What the hell are you doing?" he yelled as he closed the distance between us.

The thunderous sound of more heavy boots approached from the opposite way, which basically meant there was nowhere to escape.

My heart raced as I considered my options. Getting caught before I even had a chance to do anything was definitely not my intention. I wanted to at least give the vampire a several minute head start before his absence was discovered. I honestly thought I could release him, and then slip back into the auction unnoticed. It was so stupid. I should have known my father would come looking for me.

"Bella, pull the lever," the vampire's voice carried on the gentle circulated air current. It was softer than a whisper, but somehow I still heard it, even over the clunks and yelling from the approaching men.

When my father finally reached me, the death glare on his face meant I was in deep shit, but I really didn't care at that point.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" he raged. "You have no idea how dangerous this is!"

With my hand still resting on the lever, Dad reached up to yank that hand off by force. Just before he made contact with my skin, however, I heard the faint words "Pull it," and without further thought, my wrist bent and moved the lever to the down position.

If I had been thinking rationally, I wouldn't have done it. We were caught, all that could result from me releasing the vampire would be for us both to be in trouble, or him even possibly being killed. But I wasn't thinking rationally, and everything that followed that action was pure chaos.

In one swift motion, the gate flew open, and suddenly I was in the vampire's grasp, as my father and the guards fell back and drew their weapons.

"Let her go, Vampire!" my dad shouted irately.

"If you don't want her dead, put down your weapons," the vampire threatened them menacingly. His hand was at my throat, and his opposite arm was wrapped tightly around my waist. His grip was like steel, and I couldn't break free even if I had the strength of ten grown men.

"We can't let the vampire escape," I heard someone tell my dad. His tone was a mix between determination and remorse, and I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"What the hell does that mean?" my dad spat.

"I mean you need to prepare yourself, Mister Swan. Your daughter's life is not more important than the safety of the public."

"Like hell it's not!" he shouted at him. "Do your fucking job and contain the vampire without harming her!"

"Charlie, you know they don't care about your daughter," the vampire said from behind me. His hot breath washed over my neck, but despite the dangerous situation I was in, I wasn't scared - at least not of the vampire.

"They aren't the lethal beast threatening my daughter's life!" my father hissed at the vampire.

"Actually, I think that's exactly what they are doing," the vampire countered.

"Let her go now!" Charlie screamed at him.

"I don't think so," the vampire replied evenly.

When the vampire took half a step back towards the armed men behind us, I heard the word "Engage," as my dad shouted "No!"

What happened next was a complete blur - _literally_. The sound of guns firing erupted from both directions, but it only lasted a moment, because the world around me seemed to move at an impossibly rapid speed. The next thing I knew, I was on my hands and knees on the forest floor that surrounded the manor.

My breathing was rapid, as if I had just held my breath for a long time, and it took a minute for my brain to process what just happened.

 _How did I get out of there so fast? Did they really just shoot at me?_

It was all so disorienting. When the fog in my mind finally began to clear, I quickly looked around for my vampire.

It was dark, so I took out my cellphone and turned on the flashlight so I could try to find him. It took a minute, but when I finally spotted him crumpled in the foliage a few yards away from me, I gasped. "Oh my god!"

Without an ounce of fear from the unrestrained vampire, I rushed over to him and tried to survey his wounds.

"You're bleeding everywhere," I said in a panic. His white t-shirt was stained red from his blood, and there were gashes on his face and neck. I knew he wasn't dead, but I was slightly surprised when he looked up at me.

"I'll be okay," he said as he painfully tried to get up. "We need to get out of here."

"We?" I questioned. Regardless of everything that just happened, I had no intention of leaving with the vampire. I was probably grounded for life, but the manor was my home, and I was still in my senior year of high school.

The whole point to wearing the red gown and making my presence known to my dad, was so he would stop lying and drugging me. I knew I'd be in trouble, but it was worth it. I'd rather be grounded for life than to ever live like that again.

However, as the vampire climbed to his feet, he made it clear that I didn't have an option on the matter.

"We are not doing this again. You're coming with me," he said strangely.

"Wait, we did this before?" I questioned, trying like hell to remember what he was talking about. "You escaped before," I said, realizing that I did, maybe, perhaps, vaguely remember a little something. "But obviously you were caught and forced back. What makes you think you can escape this time?"

"Because this time you pulled the right lever," he told me, only confusing me all the more. "Come on. They will catch up to us soon. Hop on my back."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why would I hop on your back?"

"I'm not letting you go this time. Get on, or I will take you by force," he warned darkly.

"You're wounded…and covered in blood."

"I'm fine," he said, lifting his shirt so I could see his rapidly healing wounds.

"You're bulletproof?" I said astounded.

"Generally, yes, but those weren't regular bullets. They're specially charged electrified bullets. They pierce straight through vampires' tough skin, and can be lethal, but I was fast enough to get out of there before I got hit too many times."

I laughed once. "You must have a dozen wounds. How many times would you need to be hit for it to be lethal?"

"I don't really know. I guess a few more," he replied casually before grabbing my arm. "They're coming. I can hear them in the distance. We need to go now."

I also heard the distant sound of dogs barking, so I tried to break free from him. I attempted to pull my arm out of his grasp, but he had an iron grip, and only seemed to get agitated.

"We are not doing this again!" he told me sternly.

I shook my head no. "I need to go home."

He huffed. "What the hell do you think will happen to you if you go back there? You'll get a slap on the wrist and put on a time out? Those men will not be forgiving of you."

"My dad…"

"Your dad is only one man," he cut me off. "He can't protect you. Only I can, so I'm taking you with me."

"But…"

"We don't have time for this!" he growled. He pulled me onto his back by force, but before he took off running, he yanked my phone out of my hand, and threw it into the dark woods.

"Hey!"

He ignored my protest, and then we were in rapid motion once again.

The cold wind hit my face so fast that it stung my cheeks, and I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. What little I could see through the darkness was blurred due to the speed anyway, so I squeezed my eyes shut, and just tried to bury my head in his shoulder so I could breathe.

I wasn't sure how long he ran for, but when he finally stopped, he slid me off of his back and dropped to his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Where are we now?" I asked with a shiver as I looked around the dark forest surrounding us.

"I don't know. I'm not exactly following a map," he said while inhaling deeply a few more times before standing again. "Hopefully we are far enough now we can find a place to sleep."

"Sleep?" I whined. "Out here? In the forest? I'm not much of a camping type of girl, and I'm sort of wearing a ball gown without a jacket. Not good for sleeping outside."

"I'm sorry. Being cold is still better than being back there. Here," he said, leading me to a turned over tree. "Crawl under," he instructed, pointing at the hollowed space left by the tree roots.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked unsure. _Did vampires even kid?_

"Do you want to sleep or not?"

"I'm actually not tired," I said slowly, suddenly feeling uneasy by the intense way he looked at me.

"You've been up half the night, and probably last night too. How could you not be tired?" he questioned.

"I don't know. Too much excitement, I suppose."

"Excitement?" he scoffed. "Let me guess, you're into adrenaline rushes?"

"I wouldn't say that exactly. I guess perhaps it would just be a little hard to sleep with a… with a.."

"Vampire," he finished for me. "Don't worry. I won't bite…and I won't be sleeping."

"Why? You can't sleep without a coffin?" I only semi-joked. "You fought in the arena for the past two nights, and then you were shot, and ran a hell of a long way. You're the one who should be tired."

"I generally only need to sleep about once a week. Sometimes I'll sleep more, but only when I'm bored. Trust me, I'm fine. Get some rest; we will be running again in the morning."

"Morning?" I asked surprised. "But, don't vampires burn in the sun?"

He sighed. "At one time, that was partially true. Vampires wouldn't exactly combust, but the sun was too intense, and would feel like walking into an oven or a burning house. They were okay if they stuck to the shadows, but it was still too hot for comfort, so they mostly only ventured out at night."

"What changed?"

"Like so many creatures, vampires slowly evolved. The sun isn't as strong as it used to be a couple hundred thousand years ago, and vampires can withstand exposure much longer. Their biggest issue now is their eyes. Vampires see a thousand times better than humans, and the sun is bright, so it hurts. They're like lions, in a sense. They can see in the day, but their eyes are designed for night hunting, so most vampires left in the wild will still choose to be the most active in the dark…or so I would assume. I was locked up for a long time, so who knows how wild vampires behave anymore."

"So… it's possible there could be vampires… or some other type of monster, out here in these woods?" I asked, slightly concerned while looking around us.

"It's possible, but I doubt it. Why would any creature of intelligence hang out near a place where their kind are imprisoned? I would be as far away as possible, so that's what we need to do."

"But didn't you say something about finding your family last night?" I questioned. "The female vampire that fought tonight. Was she your mate, or something?"

"My mate?" he questioned with furrowed brows.

"Don't vampires have mates, or is that fake folklore too?"

"I have never heard of that," he replied with a subtle head shake.

"Well, you were worried about fighting her, and then she became extremely agitated when she smelled your blood."

"What makes you say that?" he asked skeptically.

"You were bleeding from your fight, and they didn't clean it before bringing her in. She freaked out, and started screaming at my dad."

"I do believe that pathetic werewolf I killed bled a whole lot more than I did," he disagreed.

"But she didn't care about all that blood, she only cared about a specific couple of drops. It's safe to assume it was your blood, and then she screamed something… Edgar?" I said, unsure exactly what it was from the high pitched shrill she had let out at the time.

"Edward," he corrected me.

"Yeah, that was probably it. Is that you?"

"Maybe at one time… No one has called me that since your mother."

My stomach flipped. "You said if I let you out you would tell me what happened to her."

"I did say that, and I will, but not tonight."

"Why not?" I argued. "It's too cold to sleep in this thin dress anyway, so you may as well keep your promise since I kept mine."

"I did keep my promise. Your father isn't dead, and neither are you. I never specifically promised to tell you about your mother."

I shook my head incredulously. "You don't even really know, do you? It was just a ploy to get me to help you."

He visibly locked his jaw.

"What is it?" I asked forcefully. "Whatever it is, I can handle it."

"You think you can, but you have no idea the kind of nightmares you have had over it. Your dad may have shot you up full of drugs to help you forget, but it's never really left you."

My stomach flipped again. "How would you know that?"

"The dungeon, where I'm usually kept, has ductwork that leads to your bedroom. I've listened to your nightmares every single night since it happened."

"That's why you hum to me…isn't it?" I asked quietly. "Tell me what happened to her."

"Not right now," he maintained. "Sleep first."

"It's too cold," I repeated irritated.

"Fine," he growled before disappearing right before my eyes.

"What the hell?" I mumbled to myself. I used my limited night vision to try to see where he went, but he was just gone. I spun around myself twice, and then stood there dumbfounded for a minute.

 _Did he really just ditch me?_ He could have at least pointed me in the right direction to find my way home.

It was way too dark to even attempt to go anywhere right then, so I squatted down on the forest floor, and hugged my knees to try to get a little bit of warmth. It wasn't long until I was violently shaking from the cold, and I wondered how the hell I was going to make it through the entire night like that.

"Fucking vam-pire," I grumbled with my teeth chattering.

A few torturously long minutes later, I was shocked to see the vampire return, and he wasn't empty handed.

"Here. Change," he instructed coldly while throwing articles of clothing at me. Strange enough, he was also wearing clean clothes.

"What are these?" I asked slowly as I examined them. It was a t-shirt, jeans, and a heavy jacket. He even brought me boots with socks. "Where did you get all of this?"

"We passed a cabin a few miles back. All this was hanging outside."

"You stole someone's laundry?" I asked incredulously.

"Are you cold, or not?"

I refused to steal anything, so I stubbornly set them aside, but after a few more minutes of shivering, I grudgingly changed my clothes. I had no idea how long we would be gone for, and I certainly couldn't wear the gown much longer. It was already ripping at the seams and had holes in the bottom, which made me much sadder than I would have anticipated.

"What is wrong with you?" the vampire questioned, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"My mother's dress," I said as I gently stroked the dirty crimson fabric.

"She was a nice woman," he said softly.

I looked up at him, but tears clouded my vision. "Was?"

"I'm sorry, Bella, your mother is dead."

I should have been shocked. I should have fallen over in grief, but the truth was, a part of me always knew the truth.

"And you were there when she died?" I asked.

"I was, as were you. I have no idea why your father drugged you then led you to believe she abandoned you instead. Seems cruel to me. Then again, your father is a despicable human being. Though, you can't really blame him for it. His father, and his father, were both disgusting monsters as well. Seems to run in the Swan family. I can't help but wonder what type of monster you'll end up being."

I grimaced. "I could have left you in there to fight your girlfriend tomorrow. You're only out because of me."

"So, you're not an evil monster like your father, you're more of the idiotic type of monster like your mother."

"Excuse me?" I said offended.

"It was your mother's stupidity that got her killed, and your stupidity tonight that almost got us both killed. What was the purpose of dressing up and schmoozing your father's cohorts anyway? If you would have just snuck to cell block and released me right away, your father would have never suspected you of anything, and he would have never come looking for you. I would have been long gone by now, and you could be feigning your ignorance while continuing with your life like nothing happened."

"I don't want to continue my life like nothing happened. I can't keep living a lie, and I refuse to be drugged into ignorance anymore. I just wanted my father forced to be honest with me… And I thought, maybe if my dad accepted my place as his successor in the business, I could try to help some of the fighters from the inside. Make sure they're treated right, and perhaps once day, become an advocate for their freedom. But now.. "

"Now everything is fucked up," he finished for me. "You can't go back home, Bella. Your dad may try to protect you, but this is a billion-dollar industry, and none of those other men would be opposed to having you killed for your betrayal. They let one bleeding heart get away with releasing a monster, more may try, and they can't have that. You have no choice. The safest place for you now is with me."

I swallowed roughly. "You were caught before," I said, only just realizing the severity of what he was saying. "Tell me what happened that night," I said as strongly as I was capable of in that moment.

When he unyieldingly shook his head, I got angry.

"You know what, you're no better than my dad!" I exploded. "He has withheld the truth since she died, and now you're doing the same thing!"

His head tilted to the side, and then he nodded once. "Fine. If you really think you're ready to know the truth, I'll show you," he relented with an outstretched hand.

I inhaled deeply, and then took a step forward so his hand could make contact with the skin on my face. I was instantly catapulted into a terrifying memory of fear and chaos, but it went in reverse until we reached what I could only assume was the calm beginning of that fateful evening…

...

 _"Bella, go say hi to Edward while I check on the others," Renee said as they entered the dungeon. Renee moved with grace, and as she parted ways with her young daughter, a gentle cool wisp of air lifted her crimson dress so she almost looked to take flight._

 _Little Bella eagerly ran to her special friend, and began talking a mile a minute to him through the bars. She would always tell him about her day, and per Edward's request, she would describe in detail how the sky looked that morning. Edward always looked forward to these visits, and he enjoyed watching the little girl grow and mature. She was definitely a welcome distraction from the monotony of his existence._

 _The dungeon back then was different. For the more composed monsters, the cells had nature posters on the walls, comfortable chairs, and in Edward's particular chamber there was a huge bookcase that Renee would change the books out as often as possible. There were even small televisions that were powered by a little hand-cranked generator for any of the detainees that wanted them._

 _It wasn't a good life, by any means, but it was tolerable, and so much better than the last place Edward had been. Renee sincerely strived to make their lack of freedom as comfortable as possible. She was kind, and her daughter was incredibly sweet. Charles Swan didn't understand his wife's fondness for the monsters, but he allowed it, and respected her wishes. He treated the monsters with as much compassion as the situation, and his narrow minded upbringing, would allow._

 _"Well, you're quiet tonight," Renee commented as she rejoined her daughter in front of Edward's cell. "Are you worried about the match tonight?"_

 _"No… Well, I suppose a little. Are you sure Emmett can win?"_

 _"He always does," she replied confidently._

 _"Emmett is the strongest vampire ever!" Little Bella said excitedly._

 _"That, he is, my angel," Renee cooed._

 _"But that beast he's facing…" Edward worried._

 _"Fear not, sweetheart, Emmett can handle him," she said soothingly. "Do you want to go down to C1 to watch the match?"_

 _Edward nodded, so Renee smiled, and without a fraction of hesitation, she turned off the electrical current to the bars, and opened the door._

 _"Come on, then. He will be happy to see you before he fights."_

 _Edward nodded again, but he was still visibly upset, so Bella hugged his leg. "It's okay, Edward. I'll be with you."_

 _Edward smiled, and then bent down to embrace the child. "Well, if you're with me, I know everything will be okay."_

 _She smiled widely, and then took his hand. Once Edward stood, they walked hand in hand towards the elevator._

 _They went down to the C1 level, where Edward went willingly into a particular cell._

 _"Are you sure you want to be in here?" Renee asked him._

 _"Not knowing would be worse," he replied._

 _Renee nodded. "I understand." She stroked her daughter's hair, and then kissed her forehead tenderly. "Come on, my love. Let's get you up to bed. Say goodnight."_

 _"No, I need to stay in here with Edward. He's scared," she insisted._

 _"I'll be okay, Bella," Edward tried assuring her. "Your dad doesn't like you in here with me."_

 _"He's silly," she pouted. "You would never hurt me."_

 _"But we still need to follow his rules, or he won't let you spend time with me anymore," Edward tried reasoning._

 _Bella was extremely smart for her age, but she was still an innocent four-year-old, that couldn't quite comprehend the harsh cruelties of the world._

 _"When I grow up, I'm going to let you out, and then we can get married and you'll come live with me in the big house. We can free everyone down here together."_

 _Edward was fully aware that the naïve little girl absolutely meant every word she was saying, however the world was not a kind place, and the ideals of an innocent child could not possibly stand the test of time._

 _"I'll tell you what, how about you just promise to give me a chance to escape here someday, and you can let me worry about freeing everyone else," he said with a gentle poke to her button nose._

 _"But I want to help you," she argued._

 _"You will help me. But I don't want you to get hurt. Just… someday, when the time is right, come back down here and let me out."_

 _"How will I know when the time is right?" she questioned with her sparkling chocolate brown eyes wide with innocent wonder._

 _"You will just know," he told her with a wink._

 _"Okay, Edward. I promise, someday I will set you free," she said happily._

 _"I know you will," he told her with gentle confidence._

 _"You know, she will fulfill that promise someday," Renee murmured to Edward._

 _"Would you stop her?" he questioned._

 _"Now, you know I've been trying to find the right place for you to go. If I can get to your father…"_

 _"I know," he cut her off. "You better hurry, or you'll be late and Charlie will come looking for you."_

 _"I'll come after the fight to take you back up to the dungeon," she said full of sorrowful regret._

 _Edward nodded, and then watched the woman and her daughter leave while he waited anxiously for his pseudo big brother._

 _It wasn't long before the guards escorted the large vampire past his cell on the way to the arena, and thankfully they allowed him to pause long enough to carefully reach in to caress Edward's face._

 _"No worries," Emmett said sternly._

 _"This beast…"_

 _"Edward, no worries!" he insisted. "Do me a favor, and leave that thing closed," he said while pointing to the small, shoebox sized, rectangular window in the back of the cell. "You don't need to watch and freak yourself out. I'm going to be fine."_

 _"If you're not concerned, then it's fine for me to watch," Edward argued._

 _Emmett grimaced, and then subtly shook his head. "Fine, watch. But tomorrow in training I'm going to test you on one of the moves I use tonight. If you don't know it, there will be repercussions."_

 _Edward smirked. "Sure."_

 _Emmett smiled back. "I love you, bro. See you in a bit."_

 _"If you die, I'll never forgive you!" Edward called after him as the guards took him away._

 _Despite Emmett's request, Edward opened the window overlooking the arena, and waited for the fight to start._

…

The vision Edward was showing me suddenly blurred, and seemed to skip, as if it was a video being fast-forwarded. It was a little disorienting, but when it slowed, I was able to focus on his vivid memory once more.

…

 _"I'm so sorry, Edward," Renee said with tears in her eyes. She had changed out of her red dress, and was wearing a pink sweatshirt and leggings, but Edward thought she looked just as beautiful. He always liked Renee, and despite feeling sadder than he had since first being imprisoned, he was comforted by her presence._

 _"I'm really never going to see him again," Edward murmured absently._

 _"I know it doesn't seem possible right now, but someday you will get out of here, and everything will be better," she told him softly._

 _He didn't respond. He just hung his head and buried his emotions deep within himself. There was no room for grief. He was now the only vampire left owned by the Swan family, which could only mean he would be the one forced to fight moving forward._

 _Renee must have sat with Edward for over an hour, but she still had some other things to do that evening._

 _"Hey, I need to go check on the new wolf," she said regretfully. "He still hasn't phased back to his human form. Poor thing. I'll come back here to check on you in a bit. Are you going to be okay alone until then?"_

 _"Renee, that isn't a werewolf," Edward warned her._

 _"I know, sweetie. It's a shape-shifter. Much more intelligent, which is why I need to try to help him."_

 _"You can't trust it," he said concerned. "My father told me…"_

 _"Sweetie, I know," she said with a calming smile. She reached through the bar and ruffled his hair, before mumbling, "I'll be back soon."_

 _Edward sighed, but knew Renee had more experience with various creatures than he did, therefore he let it go and buried himself deeper within his own grief-stricken mind, until…_

 _"Hi Edward," a little voice carried through the bars._

 _Edward lifted his head to look at her, and he couldn't help but smile. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"_

 _"I can't sleep. I heard daddy talking about Emmett," she said quietly. "I'm very sad, and you are sad too, right Edward?"_

 _"Yes, I'm very sad," he confirmed. "But I know someday it will get better," he said, trying to be positive for her sake._

 _She reached through the bars to try to comfort her vampire friend, but that was the moment they heard the screaming._

 _"Mommy!" Bella cried worriedly._

…

Suddenly the vision evaporated as the vampire abruptly pulled away.

"Wait. What happened?" I asked, knowing we were so close to the truth.

"Someone is coming," he hushed me. He wrapped his arm around my body, and then the next thing I knew we were practically flying straight up the closest tree. We both seemed to instinctually hold our breath as a small group of men moved below…


	7. Mothers

**Chapter 7 – Mothers**

We both seemed to hold our breaths as the group of men moved below us, however, as far as I could tell in the dim moon light, the men were nothing more than random hunters, stalking animals and setting traps. They weren't an immediate threat to us, but in order to avoid unnecessary questions, we stayed as quiet as possible.

Unfortunately for us, the men decided to randomly hunker down and take a break much too close to us, so we weren't descending that tree anytime soon. I only hoped they didn't notice my mother's dress or my handbag that I dropped on the way up the tree. At least it was fairly dark that night, so unless they shined their light directly on my things, they should go unnoticed.

Time seemed to drag on, and despite the unusual location, I felt myself helplessly losing my battle against unconsciousness.

Disorienting imagery of my mother invaded my slumber. She was smiling, and then there was blood. So much blood. Then the vision faded into her trying to tell me something, but she couldn't get it out. She moved her lips, but no sound escaped. She began floating backwards, so I chased her, but couldn't catch up. Suddenly, everything was still again, and she was back, except she wasn't alone. The vampire was there with her, so she clasped my hand with his, and nodded approvingly.

It was all so confusing, but after I forced my eyes open, and realized I was still in the tree, leaning against the vampire for support, I had a strange sense of calm run over me. My mother had trusted him completely, and I knew that I did too. Whatever hardships were ahead of us, I didn't have a doubt I was meant to be facing them. There was absolutely no turning back; I would carry on where my mother left off, and I would do whatever it took to help him with whatever he needed.

" _Finally_ ," the vampire said under his breath.

"Finally, what?" I questioned him.

He raised his brows, as if he wasn't expecting me to have heard him, and then he faked a cough. "Nothing. You just slept longer than I was expecting. It's good. You probably needed it."

"The hunters must be gone then, I assume," I said with a little more attitude than I intended. "You could have just woken me up if you were anxious to get moving."

"Yes, the hunters have been gone for awhile, but it's fine. It's important that you rest. We need to get as much distance between us and Swan Manor as possible, so I'm not sure when we will find a suitable place for you to relax again."

"Well, I feel plenty alert now, so let's get going… How the hell do we get down?" I asked while looking at the forest floor, alarmingly far below my feet.

"I got you safely up here, didn't I?" he asked, sounding irritated. Without any explanation or warning, he wrapped his arm around my waist, and jumped us to the ground, landing surprisingly gently. "See?"

I nodded, and then pulled away from him so I could brush the tree bark and dirt from my clothing. "Thank you… for keeping me safe last night," I then mumbled awkwardly.

"I promised your mother I would, so I would appreciate it if you would stop fighting me on the matter, and just come without arguing with me from here on out. I can't protect you if you go back to the manor."

"I know, and I apologize. I understand why I can't go home right now," I said sincerely.

"Great. Let's go," he said evenly.

I grabbed the dirty gown and my handbag from the base of the tree, and then followed him silently for a few minutes, but my mind was continuously turning over one question after another.

"What is the plan, anyway?" I questioned. "You said you needed to find your family. Was that female vampire back there not part of your family, or coven, or something? She sure seemed desperate to get to you, and you were worried about facing her. Shouldn't we actually be going back to try to free her?"

"I honestly have no idea who that vampire could have been," he said without slowing his stride. "I only heard rumors."

"Rumors?" I asked confused.

"A few nights ago, a couple of the owners were down in the cells boasting about their monsters. One said his vampire was unbeatable, and was originally owned by the Swans. I assumed he was talking about Emmett."

"Emmett?" I said, shocked. "Your mentor? But in the memory you showed me yesterday, he was defeated. How is he still alive?"

"Defeated?" he scoffed. "I highly doubt Emmett has ever been defeated."

"Wait," I pulled him to a stop. "In the vision you were sad, and my younger self was sad, and my mom felt bad for you. I don't understand."

"He was sold at auction after his match. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye." He sighed. "I knew I would never see him again, unless it was in the ring, and we'd be forced to try to kill each other."

"My dad sold him?" I asked slowly. "That's horrible."

"His partners demanded it. All his other monsters were defeated. Basically, all they had left was Emmett, me, and the shape-shifter he just won in a gambling tournament. The shape-shifter was an unknown type of monster back then, so it wouldn't get them much money. Your mother told me they actually wanted to sell me since I was inexperienced, and my particular background would bring in even more at auction, but she wouldn't allow it. So they didn't have any other choice, and had to sell Emmett. For the price they got for him, they were able to buy over twenty werewolves. Good ones too. The fighting back then was mostly going to werewolf matches anyway, so they had to do it."

"Sounds like you are almost agreeing with the sale," I challenged him.

"It's been almost fourteen years since all that happened, and I was a lot more naïve back then. Now I've come to understand how everything works. It's all just business. It was stupid of me to ever form any type of attachment to him," he replied emotionlessly.

I grimaced at that one.

"So, if that female vampire clearly wasn't Emmett, who could she have been?" I questioned.

He shrugged. "The Swan's haven't owned a female vampire since…" He let his words trail off.

"Since when?" I prompted.

"It doesn't matter," he said dismissively while walking forward again. "We can't go back anyway. We would just get caught, and that would be bad for both of us."

"Who was she?" I pressed, irritated. I absolutely loathed knowing I was being purposely kept in the dark. My dad had been doing that to me long enough, and I refused to allow it to happen anymore.

I didn't think he was going to answer without more of a fight, but to my surprise, he quietly said, "I can't be sure." He stopped his stride again, and turned back to me. "My family was imprisoned by the Higginbotham's several decades ago. We were quickly separated and sold to various owners, but at the time of our capture, the Higginbothams were partners with…"

"The Swans," I finished for him. "My mother was a Higginbotham."

He nodded once. "Yes, but that was before your parent's time. They only met about twenty years ago; long after the two families severed ties. Your mother once told me that she had a rift with her family, and hadn't spoken to any of them in years. I suppose her relationship with your father was a mere coincidence that had nothing to do with their elders' former partnership."

"So, she wasn't a part of your family's separation?" I asked, feeling a small fraction of relief. My dad may have been a bigoted monster, but it was nice to know my mother was nothing but compassionate.

"Of course not. It happened long before she was born. It was her grandparents, I believe."

"My mom's grandparents, and my dad's grandparents? So let me get this straight, you are basically saying that all of my ancestors are responsible for the destruction of your family," I said, feeling horrible.

"There is no sense in feeling guilt and remorse over the wrongful actions of your ancestors, Bella," he said gently.

"I'm sure my mother felt the same," I disagreed with him. "That was probably why she was so kind to you. I'm sure she would have eventually found a way to release you if she had survived."

He didn't offer any kind of response to my comment, and there was no point in dwelling on the What Ifs of the past, so I tried to redirect the conversation back to what we could change.

"So, the female vampire, you really have no idea who she could be?" I questioned.

"As far as I know, the Swan family never had any female vampires, but technically, the Higginbothams owned my sister and mother briefly. I can only assume the female vampire was one of them ."

"Your mother or sister?" I questioned horrified, but also slightly confused. "But aren't vampires created by a bite? Was your entire family turned to vampires?"

"In a way," he said cryptically.

"Edward," I said slowly, realizing that was the first time I used his name since my forgotten childhood. "Please be honest with me. My dad has lied, brainwashed me, and kept me in the dark for so long, I just want to know the truth."

"The only truth I have that matters to you is that your mother is dead," he said bluntly. "She was killed by the shape-shifter when she went into its cell to try to befriend it. You and I both heard the attack. You were terrified. You pulled the wrong lever."

"The wrong lever?" I asked, feeling the sting of the harsh reality of it all, which was slowly becoming more and more clear.

"I asked you to release me so I could go try to save her," he clarified. "Instead, you released all of the creatures locked down there. It was a tournament, so the cages were full of visiting aggressive monsters. I had to fight my way through the mass of escaping creatures to find your mother. When I finally got to her, she was gravely injured, there was nothing to do for her except promise I would always protect you."

"Wait, she was still alive when you left her there? How do you know she couldn't have been saved?" I asked in an emotional rush. "What about the shape-shifter? Was it still attacking her when you escaped? How could you just leave her there like that? I thought she was your friend?"

"She was my friend, which was a mistake on both our parts. She shouldn't have trusted any of the monsters, myself included, and I should have never formed any kind of attachment to her, or Emmett…or even you. Attachments make you weak."

"That's a horrible thing to say," I retorted.

"It is what it is. There is no denying that your mother would be alive today if she didn't trust that particular monster. But even if the shape-shifter didn't kill her that night, she would have been killed by some other creature eventually. She had no business ever thinking she could trust any of us."

"Maybe her trust wasn't the real issue. Maybe she would be alive today if you didn't leave her there severely injured," I countered bitterly.

"If I didn't leave her there, you would have died with her!" he snapped at me, finally showing some level of emotion. "All of the other creatures were released, not just me. It was chaos. Your mother used her last remaining breaths to beg me to go save you… You have to understand, all the monsters were constantly angry. They rightfully blamed humans for their suffering, and still do. I was naïve back then, but I understood enough to know they would all go after you if given the opportunity, and that is exactly what they did. You were supposed to be hiding, but they still found you. I had to basically rip you out of a werewolf's clutches, and then I just ran for it."

"Show me," I demanded while wiping the tears from my face. "Please. I want to see the last image you have of my mother."

He steeled his features, and then stepped forward to reach for my face once again.

"It's an image that will only haunt you, but if you insist."

…

 _"Bella, I need you to let me out," Edward said with panicked urgency. "Let me out so I can go help your mommy."_

 _"Okay," she said, displaying so much more bravery than her short four years should allow. She used all her tiny might to push a chair over to the electric panel across from Edward's cell. She carefully, but quickly, climbed up, and without further instructions, she pulled the lever she thought she had seen her mom pull countless times before._

 _It was the wrong lever._

 _An alarm sounded, and the lights flashed, as every single cell door on that floor opened._

 _Edward told Bella to hide, and then darted out of his cell. After racing to where he knew the shape-shifter's cage was, he was devastated to see he was too late. The wolf was tearing at Renee's flesh, and there was no saving her._

 _Rage built up inside of him, and as the wolf looked up at the fuming vampire, it snarled and recoiled itself to attack. Edward had never actually fought before, but he wasn't scared, and he didn't have a doubt he would destroy the murderous monster. However, the thunderous sound of incoming guards echoed down the hall._

 _"Ed-wha…Edward, please… protect my baby," Renee begged. Her voice was but a whisper, but it was enough to make the wolf hovering over her growl, and then bite down hard on her throat, thus silencing her forever._

 _Edward wanted to tear the beast's limbs from its body, but that was when the guards arrived, and pointed their guns right at Edward's back. With so many beasts running amuck, the guards were spread thin, but that didn't stop several of them being extra cautious by teaming up against the vampire._

 _They began screaming threats and obscenities at Edward, so after quietly whispering, "I promise to keep her safe," to the now lifeless Renee, Edward slowly turned, and waited for the guard's direction. He stood by and watched as two of them walked around him to secure the wolf, and the others gestured for him to back out so they could return him to his cell._

 _He was fully cooperating, but then he heard the unique sound of Little Bella's heart racing with fear. He risked a peek towards where he had left the child, and to his horror, she had been found by the wrong type of monster._

 _"Mommy!" she screamed as an unrestrained werewolf snarled and stalked closer to her. It grabbed ahold of her arm, and she was absolutely petrified. There was no fighting the beast off, and with another beast closing in from the other side, there was nowhere for her to run, and no guards paying attention. She couldn't fully comprehend that she was about to die, but she was the most scared she had ever been. Just as the first beast opened its mouth to bite her, Edward was there. He moved so fast, that the men who had previously captured him, didn't even see which way he ran. It was his chance to escape, and he would do it while keeping his promise to Renee._

 _Little Bella didn't know how Edward was able to get her away from the beasts, but she knew without a doubt he would protect her. Edward always made her feel safe, and she held him tightly with relief._

 _By the time Bella pulled back from her embrace, she realized he had taken her outside, and was running them away from home, but that only made her flail around and try to break free. "Please Edward, I want my mommy and daddy," she cried._

 _"Shhh!" he tried hushing her. The moment they reached the cover of the forest that surrounded the manor, he put her down so he could try to calm her. "Your mommy is…is… hurt. All of the monsters are going a little crazy right now. We can't go back."_

 _"But I need to help my mommy. My daddy doesn't know she is hurt. He might get hurt too. Please."_

 _"Bella, if I don't leave now, I may never get another chance to get free. I have to go, Sweetie. We can't help your mommy now."_

 _"Edward, she helped you when you were hurt, remember?"_

 _He sighed. "I remember, but… she's hurt too badly to be helped," he said gently._

 _"Did she die?" Bella asked with her sweet innocent face looking devastated, which was utterly heartbreaking to Edward._

 _But he couldn't lie to her. "Yes. She went to heaven to be with your grandma."_

 _Bella broke down crying as she wrapped her little arms back around Edward tightly. It was a sorrow Edward understood all too well, and he hated that his sweet little friend was experiencing it. He would have done anything to make it better for her, even give up his own freedom._

 _"Tell me what you want to do?" he asked her softly while brushing the hair out of her face tenderly._

 _"I want to go home to my daddy," she said between sobs._

 _"Okay," he told her with a sorrowful smile. "I'll take you back."_

 _He picked her up, and begun carrying her back towards the manor, as she continued to cry quietly into his shoulder. When they reached the clearing, he looked around and only saw the human guards in the distance. Without any monsters in sight, he figured it was safe enough for her to make the final trek alone, and perhaps, just maybe, he could still have his freedom._

 _"Okay, I'm going to leave you here. See those men? I want you to run to them, and tell them to bring you to your daddy. Okay?"_

 _"Where are you going?" she asked him worriedly._

 _"I need to go find my family now. You'll be okay."_

 _"But, will I ever see you again?"_

 _"I hope so. Someday," he said with a crooked smile. He poked her button nose, and then leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I'm so sorry about your mommy. But your daddy loves you very much, and he is going to take care of you. Everything will be okay."_

 _She nodded through even more tears. "I love you, Edward."_

 _His crooked smile straightened. "I love you too. Now go back to your dad. He needs you now."_

 _She nodded, and then wrapped her little arms around his neck tightly once more. Edward squeezed her back, and cherished the feeling of her in his arms. He truly cared for the child, and a part of him didn't want to leave her, but that could be his only chance. With a heavy heart, he pulled back, and urged her to go._

 _Edward meant to immediately race off towards his freedom, but some unknown force held him there, with his eyes glued to the little girl as she walked away from him. Even when the guards clearly noticed her there, and were running towards her, he stayed. He needed to be sure she was safe._

 _Just then, from the very far tip of the corner of his eye, he saw movement, and then he was in motion. It was instinctual, and he wasn't even sure what he was chasing until he was within reach of it. The moment before the creature was about to attack the little girl, Edward grabbed it from behind, and wrestled it to the ground._

 _Bella screamed, and the guards began firing…_

 _…_

"You came back to save me?" I asked in shock. "You could have been free, but you came back."

"Like I said, I promised your mother. Thankfully, the only monsters hunting us this time, are the human variety."

"Would you have really taken me with you back then? Where would a vampire and a four year old human go?" I wondered.

"I probably would have sent you back to your father once I knew the creatures were all secured. Left you at a police station, or something. But it's pointless to speculate any of that. We're here now, and now you are in even more danger. Humans think they're rulers of the world, so they will stop at nothing to hunt us both down. We must keep moving."

"But the female vampire…"

"There's nothing we can do for her right now," he said gravely.

"Aren't you even curious as to who she was?"

"What good would that do?"

"At least you'll know. Maybe somehow, someway, we can figure out how to get to her. Maybe not right now, but after we have had time to think…"

He considered it for a minute, and then he sighed. "Can you show me?"

"Show you? Your vision sharing thing works both ways?" I asked, unsure why I was so surprised.

"Yes. I can see into other people's minds as well, but it's a bit more complex. Everyone's thoughts are unique, almost as if they all speak their own language, or operate on their own frequency that I have to really concentrate on, in order to tap into the memory I need. I can only see what you are currently thinking about, and if it's not clear in your mind, I'll have a hard time deciphering it."

"Okay, so what do you need me to do?" I asked, suddenly feeling a bit nervous.

"Think really hard about the vampire you saw. See her as clearly in your mind as possible."

I did as he instructed; I cleared my mind so that I was thinking of nothing else. The moment he placed his hand on my cheek, I played him my memory as if it was a video recording. My vivid evocation began when the female vampire first entered the ring, and climbed to the roof. It continued from there as she jumped down, and smelled his blood splattered on the ground. Even through the vision, I could see Edward's face as he concentrated, which only irritated him.

"Don't think about me. Only the memory," he growled.

"Sorry," I mumbled, and closed my eyes to help myself concentrate.

Diving right back into the recollection, I took him to when the enraged female vampire looked up towards me and my father. It was the first time I was able to get a good look at her face, however, the moment Edward saw her through my mind, he let his hand drop from my cheek, thus ending the connection.

"Yeah… That's my mother," he said plainly, and then just started walking again.

I stood there dumbfounded for a moment. "Hold on!" I called after him as I ran to catch up. "Your mother? Your mother is back at the manor, and you aren't going to go try to help her?"

He shook his head while continuing his stride. "Like I already told you, there is nothing we can do for her right now."

"So, you're not going even to try?"

"There could only be two possible outcomes of me going back there right now – either I get captured and locked up, or I get myself, and probably you, killed. How would either of those probabilities help my mother?"

"Edward," I said incredulously. "My mother is dead. I won't ever see her again, or tell her that I love her. I would give anything to have that chance again. You have that chance. Your mother is alive, and she is right back there. How can you just walk away from her?"

He stared at me intensely, and I knew deep down he agreed with what I was saying, but he was stuck. "I just don't see how to possibly get to her. There are over a hundred guards between her and me… But maybe…"

"Maybe what?" I pressed when he let his words trail off.

"Maybe I have an idea. But it will take some time, and I'm going to need your help. Are you willing to help me with this, Bella?"

"Whatever you need, I'm in," I said without hesitation.

"It could be dangerous," he warned.

"I'm in," I said confidently.

Edward nodded once. "Okay then. Operation: Free the Cullens, has begun."

I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but I could only assume the Cullens were his family, so I was all for it. "Operation: Free the Cullens," I echoed with my hand outstretched to his.

He looked at me confused.

"Do you have something against handshakes?" I questioned, cracking a smile from the look of sheer befuddlement on his features.

"I don't know what you want me to do?" he said slowly.

I laughed. "Shake my hand."

He clearly had no clue what that meant, but he shrugged, and reached for my hand anyway. Instead of clasping our hands together the way a good handshake should, he simply grabbed the tips of my fingers, and wiggled my hand from side to side. He didn't wait for my approval on the act either, he just simply dropped his hand, and then turned and continued walking forward. It was weird, and yet, I was dealing with a supernatural being, so I shouldn't have been all that surprised. I was positive I was in for many more odd things to come with Edward, so I may as well just get use to it. A weird handshake would undoubtedly be the least peculiar.

Regardless of the danger we would ultimately face, I couldn't help but be excited to spend the next undetermined amount of time with him. He was definitely a fascinating creature, and I couldn't wait to figure him out...


	8. Ignorance

**Chapter 8 – Ignorance**

Despite the mid-morning hour, the forest around us was still fairly dark as we continued our trek. It wasn't until there was a break in the trees, wide enough to let the sun through, that I finally felt like I could see without much strain.

As we walked into a small clearing, Edward raised his hand to shield his eyes from the brightness, and then he did something I wasn't expecting – he froze.

"What is it? Are you burning?" I asked in a rush, without taking a moment to think before I spoke.

He didn't turn to me with his response, he simply said, "No."

Another twenty seconds of his seemingly frozen stance passed, before it finally occurred to me what was happening. Edward was staring at the sky. He was completely awestruck in the wonder and beauty of the endless brilliant blue and floating white wisps. It was something most people took for granted, but I realized he probably hadn't been able to actually see the sky since his imprisonment. It was a beautiful moment, and the look on his face was a mix between amazement and overwhelming relief, but it only made me furious. Even the worst serial killers on death row had access to a view of the sky. How could anyone treat another living being in that way? It was absolutely sickening.

"Sometimes, during long stretches of isolation, I would close my eyes and wish every last member of my family was dead," he said unexpectedly. I scrunched my brows in confusion, but thankfully I didn't have to voice it. "Death would be far kinder than a life like that," he explained. "The days and nights blended together. Weeks. Years. It was all the same. Now that you've shown me that vision of my mother…and what she has become, I know I was right to wish it."

I hesitantly placed my hand on his shoulder, which seemed to momentarily startle him. "We will get your family out of their cages. I promise," I told him gently.

His eyes closed in what looked like defeat. "This is stupid. My plan is stupid. I'm going to just get us both killed."

"You can't think like that," I told him.

He huffed loudly, and then opened his eyes again. He glanced up at the sky one more time, before continuing his hike back into the cover of the trees.

"Why don't you just tell me the plan. Maybe I can help? Think of something you haven't," I suggested as I hurried to keep up with his pace.

"It's not so much of a plan, more like a vague idea. We need to find my father's buried treasure, and then…"

"Buried treasure?" I interrupted. "Let me guess, he was a pirate before he became a vampire?" I asked facetiously.

"No, he was a pastor," he replied straight faced, clearly not understanding that I was joking.

"A pastor, huh. How did he become a vampire?" I asked, thinking it was a bit ironic for a man of god to become a so-called creature of the night.

"What difference does that make?" he asked evenly.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just curious. You know, trying to make small talk."

"You're talking pretty loud for wanting it to be small," he grumbled.

That was when I realized that his extended captivity likely rendered him lost to certain sayings and figures of speech. I needed to remember to be as blunt and straightforward with him as possible. "No, I mean, I was just trying to make conversation," I explained.

"Conversing is a waste of valuable energy," he replied curtly.

Perhaps vampires just weren't very social by nature, and that was fine, but there were definite things we still needed to discuss.

"Can you at least finish telling me about your plan, or idea, or whatever we are doing? Your father has buried treasure somewhere?" I prompted, trying to get back on topic.

"Yes, on an island off the coast of Brazil. We need to get to it."

"Brazil?" I asked surprised. I had so many questions about how or why vampires would have buried treasure on an island so far away, but getting any less than necessary information out of Edward was proving to be difficult, so I figured it was best to stick to his actual plan for now. "Wow…okay. And then what?"

"We use the money to buy our way into the monster auctions, so we can purchase my family," he said evenly.

"Purchase them? But how will we even get into the auctions? It's not like they're open to the public."

"I used to listen to Emmett speaking to your mother about this…"

"My mother?" I questioned surprised.

"She wanted to help him escape. They discussed it several times. She told him that anyone can get into the tournaments, as long as they have knowledge of the underground supernatural world, and enough money to buy their way in."

I scrunched my brows in confusion. "I went to two fights back at the manor, and got into the auction, without anyone asking me for any money, or a ticket, or to show ID, or anything."

"That is strange, but I doubt we would be so lucky next time. We need to be prepared."

I nodded in agreement. "So, my mom wanted to help set Emmett and you free. How was she planning to do that? She clearly didn't include my dad in her plot."

"No, your father would have never allowed it. She was trying to discreetly make contacts to find someone with enough money to help us. But then your father sold Emmett, and she was killed, so I've been stuck there alone ever since. I was beginning to think I'd never get out, but then you came."

"I only wish I could have freed you sooner."

"You were too young before. Now is the right time."

I nodded. "So, if we have enough money, we can buy your family... but what if they aren't for sale?" I asked slowly as I let it all sink in. "You were never auctioned, and it was just a fluke that Emmett was auctioned. If my dad didn't need the money at the time, he probably wouldn't have done it. I doubt any of these owners will auction off their vampires if they're really rare."

"Then maybe we buy our way in to the matches, and break them out the same way we escaped. We have time to figure out the details. Brazil is a few days from here," he said as he continued to walk.

"At this speed, Brazil is quite a bit more than a few days from here," I informed him. "Do you want to run again to get us there sooner? I suppose I could hop on your back."

He shook his head. "No, I can't maintain that speed very long. It's probably best to take a little longer anyway. If I'm going to blend in with the humans, I'll need time to acclimate."

"Do you think you can?" I asked doubtful. "I mean, you definitely don't look like any human I've ever seen. The way you walk and talk, and the glowing of your eyes. You don't even know what a handshake is. Maybe the general public won't be able to totally comprehend what you really are, but how are you going to fool anyone at those tournaments?"

He shrugged. "I'm not really sure on all the details just yet. I never tried to integrate with humans before, but I know it's possible since my father used to do it. And I do have abilities he didn't, so perhaps, with your help, and some physical adjustments, I'll blend in enough."

I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by _physical adjustments_ , but I knew one thing for sure - "You, going into those matches, is a huge risk. You should just let me go in alone. If it's possible to buy any members of your family, I'll do it."

He shook his head no. "I have to be there with you. If anything goes wrong, I need to make sure you don't get hurt. I promised your mother I would always protect you, and I can't do that if I'm sitting outside while you're taking all the risks."

"But if they catch you…"

"They won't," he said confidently. "If we do this right, they won't even suspect anything."

"You don't think they will be on the lookout for us at all of those events?"

"No, I think they'd assume we would stay as far away as possible. As long as we have the money, and act like one of them, we should go unnoticed."

"If money is the only determining factor, then once we have the treasure, I should be able to handle their purchases myself," I argued.

"It's not the only factor. Best case scenario, we buy them. Worst case is we're forced to break them out, and you can't do that without me. Besides me, the only vampire you have ever been around is Emmett, and there were always electrified bars between you and him. Vampires are highly intelligent, but they also go on instincts, and you are their natural food. Plus, my family members have been locked up for a long time, and probably not treated as well as Emmett was when your mother was alive. They could be hostile, and lack all self-control. I don't want them attacking you. I have to be there."

"Okay," I conceded, realizing he was right. "But how will we even know where the next tournament will be held?"

He grimaced. "I'm not sure. We need to try to find someone else who has knowledge of such things. Somehow force them to give us the information we need. My mother was the only one at this last tournament, which means the owners of the rest of my family members must live further away."

"But my dad said people travel from all over the world to attend the tournaments, so why wouldn't their owners have brought them?" I asked confused.

"Of all the tournaments I've fought in, this was the first time anyone from my family has been there. Some owners only attend the matches closer to their homes. The furthest your father ever took me was Central America, opting to forgo all the events any further away. He's not unique in that stance."

"Edward… are you sure your dad and sister are still alive?" I murmured carefully.

"No, and even if they are, it's possible we may never get to them, but I have to try," he replied quietly.

"I get that. If they're out there, we will free them," I said determinedly. "So, we need to find out where the next tournament is, and just hope their owners decide to attend," I concluded. "My dad said they happen quarterly, so we only have three months to get your father's treasure, and figure out all the rest."

"There are also smaller matches worldwide that occur more frequently than the main tournaments. If we can just learn who owns my father and sister, we can save ourselves some time and only attend those matches."

"But what about your mother?" I asked concerned. "We know where she is right now. If we wait until her owner leaves Swan Manor with her, it may be difficult to locate her again."

"That's a risk we have to take. They're looking for us back there right now. I'm hoping if we can get to my father, he can figure out a way to save her."

"So… with this whole _Operation, Save the Cullens,_ how many vampires are we trying to rescue exactly?" I asked hesitantly. I knew buying vampires at auction was going to be more than expensive, I only hoped there was enough treasure to buy all of them.

"My family is just my parents, and my sister," he replied.

"What about Emmett?"

"I only met Emmett after I was sold to your great-grandfather. But, if it's possible to free him too, I'm definitely going to."

"Okay, so hopefully there is enough treasure to buy four vampires."

"There should be. My father had a lot of money. Like I said before, if we can just get to him, he will figure out the rest."

We were both quiet as we walked and considered everything that involved with the plan, but suddenly I was hit with an amazing realization. "My god, I'm such an idiot!" I shouted as I dug through my handbag.

"You are not the most intelligent creature I've come across, but I wouldn't classify you as an idiot," Edward said, sounding as if he was attempting to be encouraging.

I huffed. "No, I don't mean I'm actually an idiot…"

"Then why did you call yourself one?" he asked perplexed.

"It's just something people say sometimes, when they do something unintentionally. I just can't believe this slipped my mind since it's kind of important and could make a huge difference for us. Look what I have," I told him while holding out the flash drive I brought from my father's office computer. Edward clearly didn't know what it was, so I explained. "I got this from my dad's office. There could be information on the tournaments; maybe even a list of who the owners are, and what monsters they possess. This could really help us!" I said excitedly.

"This is a book?" he asked, tentatively taking the small flash drive out of my hands so he could examine it.

I giggled. "No, it stores information from computers. But we need another computer, or some type of compatible device, to read it."

"A computer, huh? Your mother told me about those once. She was going to try to get me one to play on, but she was never able to. From her description, they seemed a bit complex."

"Well, they can be complex, but most aren't too bad. We just need to get to a library, or somewhere else that has public computers, and I should be able to pull up the information."

"Okay, so we need to get to a town," he understood. "I'm not sure I'm ready to be around so many humans just yet. Do human settlements have private locations we can go to spend a few days? It may be best if I lie low while you visit the library, at least for a while."

"Well, I have some cash that I also took from my dad's desk. I doubt it will be enough to get us all the way to Brazil, but it will definitely get us a few nights in a motel. Do you think we are far enough that we won't be found yet?"

"We should keep going south in these woods for another day before we take a chance being seen by humans of any kind."

I nodded wearily. "Another full day of hiking. I'm going to need some food and water here soon."

"Humans can go three weeks without food," he disagreed with my statement. "And there are usually running creeks throughout forests; we will stop for a drink once we find one."

I furrowed my brows. "So, you know humans can go three weeks without eating, but you don't know what a handshake is?" I questioned, thinking his mix of knowledge and ignorance was just as fascinating as it was frustrating.

"My freedom in the world before imprisonment was brief," he vaguely explained.

I knew he didn't like casual conversing, but with the dreadfully long day and night of trekking ahead of us, I was desperate to get my mind off of it, so I decided to push my luck.

"What do you remember from the world before you were captured?" I asked carefully. "I may need to teach you some things, in order for you to even attempt to blend in when we make it to a town," I added, hoping to use my words in a way that he might think it was important information to share, rather than just quenching my curiosity.

He seemed to consider my question, and just when I thought he was going to dismiss it, he began telling me his story.

"The world wasn't safe for us, so we were always moving, always traveling around to try to avoid capture. We went to a great many places, but my parents kept me hidden as much as possible. They worried that I would never be accepted in the regular world, or the super natural world, so they never really let me talk to people. The first real conversation I had with anyone outside my family, was when I was brought to Swan Manor, and thrown into the pit with Emmett."

"You were thrown into a pit with Emmett?" I asked horrified.

"Your great-grandfather ran things differently than your parents. There were only four or five cells in the dungeon back then, and he had the various creatures segregated into those cells. The vampires were kept together in one cell, all the werewolves in another, and so on. Once a week, Mister Swan would take all of fighters, regardless of their species or temperament, to the arena where he would tell them to train. We all called it the pit, because at the time, it was basically an electrified hole in the ground, surrounded by bleachers. The caged ring didn't come until about thirty years ago. My first day at Swan Manor just happened to be a pit training day, so without any fighting skills, or even knowledge of what the hell was going on, I was basically thrown into the pit. Mister Swan just assumed that I'd learn to defend myself quickly, or I would die and not have to waste his time."

"Sink or swim," I said horrified by the thought.

Edward shook his head. "The pit had no water."

I thought about explaining the phrase to him, but I knew it would just get us off topic, and I really wanted to hear the rest of his story.

"How did you survive?" I asked quickly, dismissing his water comment.

"Emmett protected me. He had no reason to, we had yet to meet prior to that, but he just did. There were two other male vampires owned by the Swans back then, so the four of us shared the same cell, but Emmett was the only one who showed any interest in me. He took it upon himself to mentor me, and tried to teach me everything he thought I would need to know. My parents had taught me all the basics like reading, math, geography, and some history, but Emmett taught me to fight."

"So, everything you know is what your parents taught you before, and what Emmett taught you in the dungeon? You weren't socialized with anyone else?"

"The other two vampires in our cell never spoke to me or each other, and they were auctioned off not too long after I arrived there. Emmett said they were both pussies – _whatever that means_. So, it was just the two of us for a long time. The only other voices I'd hear, were occasional screams from other monsters in different cells, people talking shit during training, and the guards yelling at Emmett when it was his turn to fight. But then, some years later, your mother came to the manor, and she would spend hours talking to me. She also brought me books, but most of them were poetry and classic novels. I don't recall anything about shaking hands in any of them; that seems strange to me. But I did read something about human capabilities once. Humans can only go three weeks without food, three days without water, three minutes without air, and three seconds without sex."

If I had anything in my mouth, I would have spit it out uncontrollably. "Three seconds without sex?" I echoed with a mix of horror and humor.

He shrugged. "That's what I read."

"Wait, you don't even know what sex is, do you?" I asked. "Because, it's not possible for a human to have that much sex. Maybe some people _think_ about sex that often, but they certainly aren't actually having sex every three seconds. Where did you read that?"

"There was an article in a paper book I skimmed through once. It said men need it more. It didn't explain what it was, but Emmett did mention sex several times over the years."

"What did he say about it?" I asked, way more amused than I probably should have been.

"He made it sound terrible. He said when he was human, he would do sex and make women scream."

I giggled. "I'll have to explain it to you one day…but not right now. I wonder if vampires have sex," I mused.

"I doubt it. My father never made my mother scream," he said seriously.

My giggle turned into a fit of laughter. I honestly felt like a clueless ten-year-old, talking about things I shouldn't be.

"Why are you crying?" he asked disturbed.

"I'm not, I'm laughing."

"What is laughing?" he asked, stunning me into abrupt silence.

"You don't know what laughing is?"

"Should I? Must be another human thing."

"Even if it's not common for vampires to laugh, shouldn't you at least remember what it is from your time as a human?"

He shook his head no, but just as I was about to question him more on his human life, he put his hand up to hush me as he seemed to be listening to something in the distance.

I stilled and held my breath, and sure enough, I heard the faint sound of crunching foliage from somewhere amongst the trees. Someone, or something, was definitely out there.

I had no way of knowing what it was, but Edward clearly did. He darted away, only to return less than a minute later, but he didn't return empty handed.

"Holy shit!" I screeched.

"Isn't it amazing!" he said with the more excitement than I thought he was capable of. His eyes were so lit with wonderment, that I probably would have been just as excited if I wasn't utterly disturbed. In his hands, were the biggest set of antlers I had ever seen. The massive buck still attached to said antlers, looked more than a little pissed. "It's a moose! I've never seen one alive before."

I forced out a smile. "Actually, I'm pretty sure it's an elk. What are you going to do with it?" I asked, having a hard time keeping my voice steady as the animal huffed, and attempted to kick his way free from Edward's steel grip.

"Eat it. You said you were hungry," he replied, clearly confused by my befuddlement. "I've never killed my own food before, but I've killed plenty of other creatures. Shouldn't be difficult to find the meat," he said before swiftly snapping the animal's neck with ease.

I winced, then had to shake away my willies. My dad had brought home many bucks and bulls from his hunting trips over the years, but seeing one actually killed right in front of me was a little shocking. Still, I had eaten the meat many times, so why should this be any different?

"How are we going to skin it…"

I let my words trail off as Edward tore a chunk out of the carcass with his bare hands, and automatically took a bite out of the bloody flesh. When he noticed me just standing there gawking at him, he misconstrued my reaction and tore out another gory chunk to hand to me.

"Um…"

He looked like a monstrous villain from some horror film, then again, I shouldn't have really been surprised. As I watched his face, dripping with red, I found myself only really questioning one thing. "So, vampires actually eat?"

"I do. It's really good when it's still warm and bloody. They usually only gave me butchered pigs or cow thighs, but I did get some venison once. It wasn't anything close to this good though. Why aren't you eating?"

"Oh… well, humans usually eat their meat cleaned and cooked."

"Cooked? Like over a fire? Why?"

"That's just what humans do. We cook our meat to make sure all the bacteria and germs are gone. The rawest thing I've ever eaten was medium well steak. I won't even touch sushi."

"I have no idea what half of the words you just said mean, but we can build a fire if you would like. I saw an acquaintance of my father's do it once. He just rubbed two sticks together like this."

I had seen people unsuccessfully attempt to start a fire with sticks before on TV, and I knew some of my friends even attempted it while camping with no prevail, so I didn't have much hope. However, with his vampire super speed, Edward had flames quickly, and he was just as surprised as I was.

"I can't believe that actually worked."

"Me either," I agreed.

We worked together to build the fire, and then I cringed while he tore a chunk out of the bull elk so I could roast it.

Edward was already done eating before my meat was cooked, which was awkward. He literally stood there and stared at me, without blinking, for the fifteen minutes or so it took for me to finish. The only thing worse than his piercing stare, was the fact that his face and shirt were still stained red from the elk blood. It had to be the single most uncomfortable meal I ever had.

I couldn't eat fast enough, just to get it over with, and then we were on our way again. Another full day of hiking in the woods, followed by what would certainly be another long restless night. Hopefully the following day would bring us to some inconspicuous civilized shelter. Then again, staying in a motel with a vampire may just prove even more troublesome….


	9. Stained

**Chapter 9 – Stained**

After walking most of the day, we were fortunate to stumble onto a running creek, and it couldn't have come soon enough.

"I don't think I've ever been this thirsty before in my life," I said, not even caring about the animalistic way I was drinking straight from the stream, without even attempting to cup it in my hands first.

"You're getting soaking wet," Edward grumbled, as if he was irritated by my uncivilized behavior. It was almost laughable.

"I'd rather be wet than covered in blood," I retorted while gesturing to his shirt.

He looked down and actually seemed surprised. "I am covered in blood."

"You're just now noticing? It's all over your face too. For the last few hours it's been hard to look at you without wanting to vomit and laugh simultaneously. You better get down here and try to clean up a bit. If we make it to a town with you looking like that, it will definitely alarm people."

He sulked towards me, but I couldn't help but question him on his sudden negative demeanor. "Do you have something against water?"

"No, it's just… _wet_ ," he said with a scrunched face of disgust.

"So, you eat food, but you don't drink water?" I questioned perplexed.

"My system doesn't require plain water. It's too thin, and it would only dilute the blood from the meat I consume."

"Okay, but you still need a bath every once in a while. How do you ever clean yourself without water, especially after fights?"

"Being clean isn't a luxury most fighters get very often. Besides, water isn't very efficient in cleaning blood," he explained. "We did, occasionally, have access to bleach whenever we got so dirty we bothered the guards, or sometimes it was a vinegar mixture."

"What about your hair?" I asked, getting increasingly more disturbed.

"Vampires don't sweat or emit oils from our skin, so we rarely need deep cleansing. I believe it's been a few years since I was last forced into an actual shower, and I still have nightmares about it."

I scrunched my face. "Well, you need a bath now, and there is no way you can wear that bloody shirt around humans. Take it off and hand it to me. I'm going to see if I can wash some of it out," I instructed.

Edward grimaced, but otherwise grudgingly complied, and I immediately gasped. Even in the shadows of the lowering sun through the trees, I could see his torso was completely covered in scars of various shapes and sizes.

"Are these all from the matches?" I asked slowly as I stood, and absently took a step closer to get a better look.

"Mostly," he replied casually, but he took a step backwards, clearly as a way to maintain the distance between us.

"What's wrong?" I asked him unsure.

"Nothing is wrong. I would just prefer it if you didn't touch me," he replied evenly.

"Um… we've touched several times since being away from the manor," I said, baffled by his sudden standoffishness.

"That was different. I don't like my skin exposed," he replied curtly.

"Okay," I said slowly, still not understanding, but knowing it was something he clearly didn't want to discuss at the moment. Without pushing the matter, I simply took his shirt to the water, and tried to rub out the red stain on the rocks below the surface. At best, the blood faded to a smeared pink, but it was better than the dark stain that was there prior. I squeezed the water out as much as possible, then handed it back to him with an, "I'm sorry," knowing it would be uncomfortable for him to wear it in that saturated state.

"It's fine. I've had worse," he replied emotionlessly, before tugging the dripping wet shirt back over his head and down his torso. He wiped his face with the hem of the wet fabric, and then looked back at me. "Are you ready to get walking again?"

I sighed, and then nodded.

We walked for a few more hours, mostly in silence, and then we started to look around for somewhere to hunker down for the night. We got lucky and found a little cave, so we checked for possible wild, unfriendly inhabitants, before trying to settle in.

We were both wet, therefore freezing, and the cold hard stone ground certainly didn't help matters, but I was exhausted and could feel that sleep was imminent.

"You're not even going to attempt to lie down?" I asked between tosses and turns as I tried to find a fraction of comfort on the cave floor.

"No, I told you, I don't require much sleep," he replied evenly. He was positioned near the edge of the cave, like some hunched over gargoyle, keeping watch. I hated knowing I would soon be asleep, and he would just be sitting there like a statue, but I also knew we had a long journey ahead of us, so I just needed to get used o it.

It took a while, but soon enough exhaustion overcame discomfort, and the next thing I knew, I was slowly waking up in the dim cave. It took a few moments for that groggy disoriented state to dissipate, and as soon as I remembered where I was, I was abruptly struck with even more overwhelming confusion.

"What the hell?" I mumbled to myself as I forced my body off of the very stiff looking vampire.

 _How in the world did I end up lying on top of him?_

Edward's eyes were closed, but he didn't look relaxed by any stretch of the word. His features were fixed with tension, and his body was completely rigid. However, had he actually been awake, I was sure he would have heard me mumble, or at least felt me move, but he didn't react whatsoever. He remained frozen on the ground, until I gently, but firmly, shook him awake.

When Edward finally opened his eyes, he inhaled sharply, and immediately jumped to his feet as if he was ready to fight.

"Whoa, calm down," I sang, with my hands outstretched towards him. "It's okay, it's just me. Everything is fine."

His face was plagued with a befuddled fierceness, that was both intimidating as it was perplexing. What was going on in that fascinating mind of his? I only wish I knew.

"Are you okay?" I asked slowly as he appeared to calm himself.

"Yeah. Sorry about that," he said, still confused, but clearly coming to a vague idea of what just happened in his own mind.

"I don't know how I ended up on top of you," I murmured awkwardly.

"You kept thrashing in your sleep. Your heart wouldn't settle. You asked me to sit with you. You don't remember?"

I shook my head no. "So, you sat with me…and then you fell asleep after all, and had a nightmare of your own?" I questioned. "You looked so troubled."

He took a deep breath. "It was actually sleep paralysis," he explained unexpectedly. "I was aware when you got up, but I couldn't move _. How did I let myself fall asleep?_ " he mused.

"How do you even know what sleep paralysis is?" I questioned, considering how ignorant he seemed with most other human things.

He shrugged. "I spent some time in a lab. They did different tests on me, and at one point they determined I occasionally get sleep paralysis. I don't sleep often, so I was hoping we would get to a more secured location before I risked it. I apologize for leaving you exposed with me unable to protect you if danger should have arisen."

"Never-mind that. You had lab tests done on you? Why?"

"They never explained anything to me. I was just put through various experiments and tests before I was brought to Swan Manor. I assumed it was standard protocol for any creature being sold, but I was there for quite a while, and Emmett said he was never subjected to lab work, so I have no idea."

"At the Higginbotham's?"

He thought about it for a minute. "Those years tend to blend together in my mind at times, but I believe so. The Higginbothams had a rather large lab in their manor. Many experiments and research going on there. Then again, your father's lab is not much smaller."

"My dad has a lab too?"

"Yes. I believe they call it Level L."

I definitely remembered seeing an L button in the elevator. "I wonder what they're doing down there. What could they possibly be researching that's so secretive that they have to do it so many floors below ground?"

"I don't know for certain, but it could be that they're just studying all the various creatures so they better know how to restrain them," Edward offered, before walking towards the entrance of the cave, and looking out. "Are you ready to get moving again? We need to make full use of the day."

I sighed, and then reluctantly forced myself up. "So, if we come across a town, we are stopping?" I asked hopefully.

"That's the idea. Though, we better try to lose our scent somehow before we get there. With my running speed, I'm sure we are pretty far ahead of the creature hunters, but they will eventually catch up to us using their canine units if we don't figure out something."

"Couldn't we find another river or creek, and walk in the water for a while?" I asked, knowing movies always used waterways to mask scents and confuse canines.

"I suppose water could work, that will have to be worst case scenario though. No sense in getting wet again needlessly," he grumbled.

I smirked at his severe dislike of water. "Whatever you say," I said, and then followed him out of the cave.

We must have walked another hour before we finally came across the gentle babbling sound of a brook nearby.

"I think we better just bite the bullet here," I told the grumpy looking vampire besides me.

"Bite what bullet?" he asked, making me mentally kick myself for using yet another phrase lost on him.

"Just…never-mind. Look, I get it, you don't like water, but you said so yourself, it's important to at least attempt to lose our scent, right? We may not come across any other streams for a while, so we should just get it over with."

"I suppose you are right," he grumbled.

Just as he was about to grudgingly walk towards the water, he froze, and told me to "Wait."

"Do you hear something?" I questioned.

"Shh!"

"Sorry," I whispered as I tried to hear whatever he was listening to. "I don't hear anything," I said after a minute.

"It's getting louder," he hissed at me. "Hurry," he then said before grabbing my hand, and rushing us at a quick human speed through the trees. After getting scraped and cut by several long branches, we found ourselves in a clearing, that just so happened to stretch well beyond my eyes could see.

"It's a road," I said surprised.

"Yes, and an automobile is coming. I can hear its engine approaching. Quick, stand back and I'll stop it."

"Stop it? Why?"

"Getting in an automobile will certainly end our tracks."

"Okay, but these people aren't going to just give us their car," I pointed out. "And I don't know what you remember from your human days, but not many people pick up hitchhikers anymore."

"I don't know what that is, but you are worrying over nothing. I will stop the vehicle, then kill the driver, and just take it," he said casually. "I'm assuming you can operate most vehicles…"

"What?" I spat. "You can't just kill someone!"

He looked at me with furrowed brows. "Why not?"

"Because, it's murder!"

"Do you have any idea how many creatures I have killed in the fighting ring?"

"That's different."

"Why? Because they weren't human?" he rebuffed.

"No, I don't agree with killing anyone innocent."

"The creatures that fight in those rings are just as innocent as anyone. They're forced to fight. Kill or be killed. Killing needlessly is actually _human_ nature, so what is wrong with me killing one of them?"

"Because it's wrong. You can't just go around killing people, regardless of what you were forced to do. _You're not in the ring anymore!"_

I had to raise my voice towards the end of my last comment, as the sound of the oncoming car's engine roared past us. Edward angrily watched it go, but I was only relieved it was able to pass without anyone losing their life.

Without another word spoken between us, Edward just huffed, and then turned and began walking along the road, so I silently trailed behind him.

We walked that way for several miles, until we came upon a small convenience store and gas station. Seeing the man-made structure, after two dreadfully long nights in the wilderness, was as much of a concern as it was a relief. That concern only escalated when Edward didn't slow or hesitate before entering the building, and I dared not follow him, in fear he was about to do something I couldn't stop or forgive. I waited anxiously just outside the double doors for at least ten minutes, and then gasped when Edward finally reemerged, once again, covered in bright red blood – or so I thought.

"What did you do?" I asked horrified, with tears pouring over my cheeks.

"Spilled the ketchup," he said unexpectedly.

"Huh?"

"Why are you crying now?" he snapped at me.

"That's not blood?" I asked, pointing at his shirt.

"No. It's ketchup," he reiterated.

"Wha-why?" I asked baffled.

"I went in to ask the man about acquiring some transportation, and he asked if I was hungry. I said no, but I figured you would be. He said to get a free hot dog, and make sure to add the ketchup. Because I had no idea what any of that was, he gave me instructions, but the ketchup wouldn't come out, so I hit it a little too hard, and it attacked me."

I stared dumbfounded for a long moment, and then I erupted in laughter.

"Is this that _laughing_ thing again?" I heard him question irritated, over the sound of my hysterics.

"I'm sorry, you are just seriously funny," I said while trying to calm myself.

"Anyway, the man said we can find a bus station half a mile up the road," he grumbled while attempting, and failing, to wipe the ketchup off of his shirt with his hand. "I have no idea what a bus is, but I didn't question him because I assumed you would know," he added.

"I do know," I agreed. "Let's get moving. Maybe we can catch the next bus leaving the area… Hold on a minute," I said, suddenly having an idea. I ran in to the store, and quickly purchased an extremely overpriced sweatshirt, and hurried back to Edward. "Put this on. Your shirt is a mess," I instructed.

He looked at it questionably. "What is _'Washington Tree Hugger'_?" he asked of the inscription on the sweatshirt.

"It means you love trees, which I suppose is fitting considering how easily you climbed that one the other night," I explained with a giggle. When he didn't look amused, I sighed. "There weren't many options to choose from. Just put it on and let's go."

"How?" he asked, holding it upside-down by the hood.

"Here," I said, taking it from him and flipping it over, before pulling it over his head. "Arms in."

The look of annoyance on his face was comical, especially when I pulled the hood up to cover his messy hair.

"That's perfect actually," I told him with a smile. "You look way more human now."

He mumbled something unintelligible under his breath, but I ignored him as we made our way towards the bus station…


	10. Imaginary Cages

**Chapter 10 – Imaginary Cages**

I must have been running on adrenaline for the past two days of forest wandering, because with civilized conveniences so close, I was beginning to lose steam.

"Why are you walking like that?" Edward asked when he noticed the slight limp to my stride.

"Leg cramp. I guess my body is just starting to complain about the abnormal amount of physical activity lately. I'm usually pretty sedentary."

"At your age, you should be training eight hours a day, and be able to do back flips and forward handsprings," Edward said with a hint of belittlement in his tone.

"Flips and handsprings? As in the gymnastic moves? Why should I be able to do any of that? I never even took gymnastics," I said, somewhere between offense and amusement.

"Your mother used to bring me books, and one was about teenagers doing flips. If you don't win the gold medal, you will never kiss the boy," he said with complete seriousness. "Hell, even Dorothy took a trip over the rainbow, and came back well before your age. You have no excuse for living a sedentary life. You're not the one who was locked in a cage for over eighty years."

I would have laughed if it wasn't so sad that he sincerely believed whatever fictional novel he had access to was how the real world worked.

"Okay, look, gymnastics may be a way of life for a small group of people, but most aren't like that, and _The Wizard of Oz_ is a hundred percent made up fantasy. Nothing from those books you read ever really happened."

He scrunched his brows. "They were all fake? So the Wright brothers didn't invent the airplane? Thomas Edison didn't invent the lightbulb? Do those things even exist? I know light bulbs do, so who invented them if not Edison? And I could have sworn I saw an airplane before my incarceration, but at the time, I didn't know what it was or what it was called. If they're not real, then I am completely lost as to what is real and what isn't," he rambled.

I sighed. "You are definitely lost when it comes to human life. It seems my mother must have given you a mix of fiction and non-fiction books, and now you are confused. Some of the stories you read are based on facts, and some are purely made up. It will probably take a long time for you to decipher what was true or not."

"Why would someone write about something that wasn't true?" he questioned.

"For entertainment. Most people know the story they are reading isn't true. They read it for a break from reality, or a sense of adventure when they otherwise don't have any."

"I don't understand. If they want adventure, and they aren't locked in a cage, why don't they just go out and have an adventure? Why only read about other people's adventures?"

"Well, most people have commitments in their lives, that don't allow them to just pick up and leave whenever they want. School, or their jobs, or their family, or even just financial restrictions."

"So, basically, humans lock themselves in imaginary cages? How peculiar."

I smirked. "Yeah, I suppose it is strange when you put it that way. So, in all the books you read, you never read anything about sex, or hotdogs, or even laughter?" I questioned, hoping to get a better grasp on his knowledge.

He shrugged. "Perhaps those words have come up in various books I read, but I never understood their meaning. Whenever there were aspects of a story I had no concept of, I would just skip over them."

"Well, unfortunately for you, some of those aspects are a big part of human life. If you want to be able to blend in and not be noticed at those tournaments, you're going to have to learn so much."

He nodded once. "Then I will learn them. As long as you help me, I know I can figure it all out."

"It's certainly not going to be easy," I warned him.

"Nothing ever is," he agreed, which only made my heart sink. Nothing in Edward's life had ever been easy, my life had been pretty simple up until then. I never really had much trauma, apart from losing my mother, and it almost made me feel guilty. If only I found the courage to free him sooner, it could have saved him years of torture.

We walked the rest of the way to the bus station in silence, and then I told Edward to wait outside as I went in to buy the tickets.

"Hi, I need to buy two tickets for southern California," I told the clerk.

The lady looked at her monitor. "The best I can do for you is Oregon. From there you will have to get another ticket."

"Okay," I said, handing her my money. It was probably for the best anyway. If, by some chance, we were tracked to that point, and they figured out we got onto a bus, they could probably narrow it down to which way we went, so transferring along the way could only be a good thing.

Luckily our bus departed within the next ten minutes, so once the tickets were in my hand, I hurried to find Edward. However, the moment I stepped outside the building, I was grabbed from behind, and pulled into the woods behind the station.

"What are you doing?" I screeched at Edward when he finally let me go.

"I heard a loud engine motor approaching. The creature hunters must have found us," he said in a quiet rush.

He grabbed my arm as if he was going to throw me on his back again, but I managed to step just beyond his reach. He could have easily closed the distance between us and caught me, but instead he just cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Just wait a second," I told him. "I'm sure the electrified big rigs the hunters use to transport monsters, have huge rumbling engines, but so do buses, and our bus is due to arrive any minute. There is a good chance that's what you heard. Let's just stay here for a minute, and see. If it is the hunters, we can flash away again, otherwise we need to get on this bus."

"Buses have big engines?"

"Yes. Did you think they would be quiet?"

"I don't know. I thought they were just like regular automobiles."

We both quieted instantly when the rumbling engine arrived, and then I took a sigh of relief.

"See? It's just the bus," I told him.

"That is a very large automobile for just the two of us. Surely we can pay less money for something smaller," he said as he followed me out of the woods.

"It's not just for us. It's a public transport, with a lot of seating. As long as there is room, anyone can pay to get on. It's cheaper than renting a smaller private car."

"So, there will be other humans on board?" he asked, disturbed.

"Yes. So, just don't talk too loud so people won't get suspicious."

"I don't think this is a good idea. I'm not ready to be around so many humans just yet."

"Well, we don't have any other choice, we need to lose our scents. The hunters will eventually track us here. They will know we got on a bus, but there are several ways we could go, so it will at least buy us some time. When we transfer in Oregon, it will help us lose them even more. This is really the only way we can truly escape."

"But…"

I put up my hand to stop him. "Edward, I trust that you're not going to eat me, the least you can do is trust me in return. I know this is what we need to do. I don't know how I know since I've been fairly sheltered my entire life, but I just know."

He raised a brow at me. "Okay then, I guess I will trust your judgement. However, I do have to say this, if my lack of patience with humans gets tested, and I snap and kill everyone on board, you will only have yourself to blame."

I raised my brows in return. "Um… is that really a possibility? I mean, you haven't had any issues with me, and I'm human."

"I have been fully acclimated to your smell, and the sound of your unique heartbeat, since the first time your mother brought you down to the dungeon when you were a newborn. You, and only you, are completely safe with me. It was hard for me to not kill the clerk at the store, especially when his ketchup attacked me."

"But you said your diet was mainly animal blood and meat?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I don't have much of a desire to feed on humans, per se, but my irritation with their human-ness, may make it hard for me to not want to do mortal harm," he said casually. "I'm not saying it will happen, but it's a definite possibility. I don't value human life the way you do, and my patience is weak."

I huffed in irritation. "Listen, if you want to live, and eventually save your family, you better just figure out a way to control your weak patience, and not kill anyone. Despite your lack of compassion for innocent people, we can't just leave a trail of dead bodies in our wake. That would only bring us more trouble. Now, suck it up, and let's get on the bus before it leaves without us."

"Suck what up?" he asked confused.

"Your issues!" I snapped at him.

"How does one suck up issues?" he pondered as he followed me onto the bus. I handed the driver our tickets, and then we found our seats towards the back. Lucky for us, and for humanity, the bus was mostly empty. There were only three other people on board, and they sat close to the front.

The next few hours were long. I spent most of the time going in and out of consciousness, as Edward basically did nothing except stare out the window as the big marvelous world passed by him.

When we finally made it to Oregon, we didn't waste any time before getting on another bus to the San Francisco bay area, which was a little exciting for me.

"Someday I want to go on a vacation here. See the Golden Gate, Pier 39, ride a trolley," I daydreamed.

"One of the books I read was about escaping Alcatraz," Edward said unexpectedly.

"Really? So you've actually heard of San Francisco?"

"Yes, but it's always been hard for me to actually imagine any of it. Of course, that book did somewhat inspire my belief that escape from Swan Manor was possible."

"I don't know, I think surviving the cold, rough, bay waters would be easier than escaping my house was for us. I'm still surprised we got this far."

"We will get to Brazil," he said confidently. "From there, who knows," he added with less confidence.

I sighed. "I know we'll get there, I just wish we could spend some time in these places we pass through. I've never really left Washington before."

"I want to see Neverland," he mused with a nod.

I giggled. "Neverland? Edward, _Peter Pan_ is fiction."

The look of pure disappointment melted his features. "That is really a shame," he murmured. "But, who knows, perhaps one day someone will make one. It could be a place creatures like me go with their families to hide from the monster hunters. Just need a little pixie dust."

"Edward, there is no such thing as pixies," I said slowly.

"How do you know?" he challenged. "If there are vampires, and werewolves, and goblins, and minotaurs, why not pixies? Maybe their small size just makes them better hiders from humans."

I considered it for a moment, and then nodded. "You know what, you're absolutely right. The stories had to come from somewhere. I really hope there are pixies in the world, and I hope I get a chance to see them someday. I'm sure they would be amazing."

He nodded. "They're probably better than the ones in _Peter Pan_ too. In order for such creatures to survive so long undetected, they would need to be fierce. Vicious, sharp teeth, night vision eyes, killer instincts. I wonder if they're cannibals."

My eyes widened. "We could only hope," I said sarcastically.

He sighed. "Well, even if there is no real place like Neverland, I'd like to see the world someday too. My family did a lot of traveling when I was young, but like I told you before, I was always sheltered from everything. It would be nice to actually experience some of what's out there. Then again, everything we've seen since leaving your manor has been more than I ever really expected."

I wanted to tell him there would be plenty of time to discover the world once we saved his family, but the truth was he would probably always need to be in hiding, and being in hiding was just another type of cage. He would never truly be free.

As much as we would have both loved to explore San Francisco a bit, we couldn't risk staying any longer than necessary in such a populated area, so we boarded another bus, and continued south. Of course, there were short stops along the way, mostly to stretch our legs and get food, but it was never enough time to really experience what the area had to offer. I did, however, purchase a couple backpacks, and some ridiculously expensive ugly changes of clothes at one of the rest stop stores, just to escape the horrid stench coming from what I had been wearing while trekking through the woods. Edward could only grimace when his "Tree Hugger" sweatshirt was replaced by one with a huge yellow happy face. He may have disliked it, but it sure made me smile.

We traveled all the way to Bakersfield, and that was when I decided I just couldn't spend another minute on the bus without some kind of an extended break. So, feeling it was far enough from any of the biggest major cities, we rented a small sketchy motel room, and attempted to settle in for at least a night…or maybe even three… or possibly seven.

I wasn't expecting the room to be fancy in any way, and it certainly wasn't, but as far as I could tell, there weren't bedbugs, and it was one of the few places that didn't require a credit card, so it was good enough for me.

"I feel like the ground is still moving," I moaned as I collapsed on the bed, feeling queasy from the super long bouncy bus trip.

"The ground _is_ moving. The world spins and rotates," Edward replied, but then he backtracked. "Or, at least, that's what one of the books I read said. Was that also fiction?"

"No, that is true, but it's not something we can really detect. I just feel like we're still on the jerky bus. I think I need a few hours to feel stable again," I said with a yawn. "But the only thing I need more than a good night's sleep in a bed, is a shower," I said, before hurrying into the bathroom.

The warm water felt like heaven; I probably could have stood in that musty shower all night, but I knew Edward was just sitting out there, staring at the walls, so I felt I needed to hurry to sit with him before he got an inkling to go kill someone. Thankfully, I still had one pair of clean underwear from the pack I got from the rest-stop.

"Your hair is wet," Edward grimaced as I came out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, wet hair comes with showering. Sorry, there isn't a blow-dryer in there, so it's just going to have to air dry," I told him regretfully. I didn't understand his aversion to water, but I certainly didn't want to push it on him either.

I gave Edward his space from my moisture, by sitting on the opposite end of the bed.

"So, I've basically been eating at all the truck stops since Oregon, when do you think you'll be getting hungry again? Maybe there's a butchery around here, or you can hunt deer in the hills, or something," I suggested. "I know you don't need to eat as often as I do, but it may be a good idea for you to eat again before we get back on the road."

"Actually, I'm going to need to wait until the elk is fully out of my system before I can start my physical adjustment process," he said strangely. "I needed the blood and meat back in Washington because of all the running and the healing I was doing from being shot, but now it's probably best for me to do it your way."

"Do it my way? I'm not sure I understand what you mean," I told him.

"Remember when we were talking about my time in the Higginbotham's lab?"

I nodded.

"Well, during those tests, it was discovered that when I consume human food, I become more human," he said, absolutely flabbergasting me.

 _Was my mouth hanging open? I couldn't be sure_.

"How-wa… how is that even possible?" I questioned slowly, unable to form any more rational thoughts.

He shrugged. "They never told me. All I know is that my physicality and instincts are fully dependent on my diet. I eat human food, I become more human, and vice versa. I need to pass as a human to get into these tournaments, so I need to eat like a human. No more raw meat for me, at least until we free my family."

"Wait," I said, trying to make sense of what he was saying. "Are all vampires like that? It's definitely not what our folklore describes"

"No, Emmett was only fed blood in bags," he replied. "Pig blood usually, except on big fight nights when he was given human blood. It makes vampires their strongest."

"That's so weird. I wonder why you're different," I ruminated. "My dad did say something about you being unique when I was in his office, but…" I let my words trail off as my mind spun with a thousand unanswerable questions. Regardless of knowing he had no knowledge of what was done to him, I couldn't help but voice the most blaring conundrum. "So, if vampires only drink blood, and your diet determines your capabilities, then why wouldn't they be feeding you only blood like other vampires? It seems bloody raw meat would make you something in between. If fighting in the tournaments is what they mostly care about, you'd think they would want you as strong as possible."

"I remember when they tested me on an only blood diet, they were concerned about something, so they added the raw meat in. Like I said, they never offered me any information on their findings. All I know is that I need to pass as a human, so human food is what I need. I still have the elk in my system, but perhaps by tomorrow I can start to slowly introduce other food."

I took a deep breath, and decided it was pointless to waste time speculating. "Well, tomorrow will sure be interesting. What should your first human meal be?" I pondered. "Hot dog?"

Edward groaned…


	11. Painful Water

**Chapter 11 – Painful Water**

I thought sleeping in a motel room would beat sleeping on the bus, and would be especially better than sleeping in wilderness, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

"Edward, if you want to learn how to be human, you need to do what humans do, and humans _sleep_ ," I groaned when he refused to lie down as the hour stretched well past midnight.

I made the mistake of turning on the TV to try to drown out all the tireless thoughts running through my brain, but all that resulted was Edward becoming obsessed, and completely fixated on the screen. It was a huge mistake.

"I have to see if Katniss chooses to kill Peeta or Gale… or better yet, both," he replied without even glancing in my direction.

 _Damn cheap motels with free cable!_

"Why do you think she is going to kill either of them?" I asked, frustrated.

"Why wouldn't she? This film would be fairly dull and unrealistic if everyone was happy at the end."

"Okay, _The Hunger Games_ series is definitely not dull, but like a lot of the books you read, it's also _fiction_. It's supposed to be unrealistic."

"This is one of those made up stories?" he asked, finally taking his eyes off the screen to turn his shocked look at me.

"Edward, look out the window," I instructed. "Does the world look anything like this movie portrays it to be?"

He shrugged. "I guess not, but I can definitely relate to the part where they're forced to fight. This movie feels more real to me than what I've seen of this world so far."

I sighed. "Yeah, I suppose that makes sense."

I was beyond exhausted at that point, but at the same time, I suddenly felt the need to force myself to stay awake and watch the rest of the movie with him. As unrealistic as the plot was to me, I could definitely see the parallels to what he had endured, and I wanted to experience the movie through new eyes beside him.

However, after the first two _Hunger Games_ movies, I decided it was probably a good idea to watch something a little more realistic to humans, so he could begin understanding how we actually lived. I started him with a couple teen movies, hoping he could see what kids in high school experienced, and then we moved on to dramas.

"Why do all these people take off their clothes when they kiss?" he questioned, half-way through The Notebook. "Why do they even kiss at all? My parents used to kiss, but I never understood the point to smashing your face together and sucking on the other person's mouth. It doesn't feed you, or help you breathe. How does it benefit either person?"

"Well…" I shrugged with a loss. I wasn't sure how to answer that. "I guess when two people love each other, or even just like each other, they kiss. It's a physical expression of those emotions."

"Well, that's stupid."

"I guess when you analyze it like that it's kind of stupid, but it feels nice…or so I've been told."

"You never kissed anyone?" he asked me.

"I have, it just wasn't as great as I was hoping. I had a boyfriend last year, Mike. We had fun, but I just never really liked kissing him. He used his tongue a lot. It was kind of just gross to me. But that doesn't mean I think all kissing is gross. If a kiss felt like that," I pointed at the TV, "I would want to kiss all the time."

Edward scrunched his face in disgust. "I just don't get it."

"I guess I don't either," I agreed.

When _The Notebook_ reached the kissing in the rain scene, it became too much for Edward, so I turned it off. We started one more movie, but not even twenty minutes into it, and I must have drifted off. The next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes to the bright sun shining through the drapes, and Edward still fixated on the television.

"Have you been watching this all night?" I asked groggily with a yawn. It was already almost eleven a.m. but being up most of the night, I was surprised I didn't sleep longer. "You know, I really hope your new human diet gives you a regular sleeping schedule," I added.

"I hope not," he replied. "Humans sleep far too much. Think of all the hours you wasted being unconscious."

"It's necessary for humans to recharge, as is food, and I'm starving. Are you ready to go have your first human meal?"

"I suppose. I can still feel a little of the elk in my system, but adding in different food source should help move it out faster. What shall we eat?"

"I think there is a Denny's close by, let's just go there," I suggested, and since Edward had no reason to object, that's where we went. Of course, he did glare at the hostess like he wanted to kill her, so I grabbed his hand and kept a firm grip on him. I knew there was little I could do to stop him if he attacked someone, but I hoped my hand on his would be a gentle reminder to keep control of himself.

"So, does anything look appealing?" I asked him as we scanned the menu.

"I have no idea what any of this stuff is," he reminded me.

I took a chance and just ordered two cheeseburgers. When the food came, however, I quickly realized my mistake.

"What's wrong?" I asked as Edward's features twisted is disdain.

"What exactly is this?" he questioned while pulling the bun off, and slowly lifting the top layer of lettuce to see what else was stacked on the burger. Before I could answer him, he picked up the patty, smelled it, then grimaced.

"It's a burger," I told him. "It's meat."

"This is meat?" he asked surprised. "What kind?"

"It's beef, from a cow."

He raised a brow. "I've had cow before, but it never was in a circle, or anything close to this texture."

"Well, it's cooked," I stated. "And before cooking, they mince up the meat, and then form patties."

His brows pressed together. "Why would they mince it up?"

I shrugged. "Because it's good that way. Maybe you should just try it before you decide if you like it or not."

He huffed. "Well, what's this?" he asked, pointing to the melted orange square on the patty.

"Cheese. It's made from milk."

"Milk?"

"Yeah, from a cow."

"And what's all of this?" he asked of the lettuce and tomato. When I explained what they were, the look of disturbance on his face only grew.

"So basically, it's a cow, topped with the milk cows give, and the vegetation cows eat. This is just a perfect example of humans thinking they're better than all other creatures. They couldn't possibly insult the animal more."

"Insult the animal?" I said with a slight laugh. "It's dead. How is it being insulted? And you have no room to talk. You didn't have a problem killing the elk."

"I killed that elk so we could eat. I didn't steal its milk, before chopping up its remains, and top it with grass, and then parade it around a room to feed to people who didn't hunt it. It just seems so… monstrous."

I tried to step outside myself and see it from his perspective, and the truth was, he was right. Humans did act like they owned the world and could dominate all other species. Many things we did really didn't make sense when you really thought about it, but that didn't change the fact that he was trying to learn to be human.

"As stupid as it sounds to you, if you're going to pass as human, you need to try to learn our ways," I told him.

Edward grimaced, but he otherwise tried to comply. He picked apart the different components of the burger, and as I watched him, I realized that perhaps we jumped in a little too soon.

"I'll be right back," I told him as he continued to poke and sniff his food with disgust.

I sought out the waitress and ordered Edward a steak. "Rare," I told her.

Since it was a cheap, mostly empty diner, the steak arrived quickly, and Edward actually looked relieved.

"Humans do eat real meat," he said, surprised.

"Yeah. I've personally never seen anyone order it that rare before, but I know there are some people out there that do. I figured we should take baby steps. Eventually work our way up to a medium cooked steak, and perhaps a potato of some sort. I'm sure that's what these rich tycoon monster owners eat, so it will help you blend in when we get in there."

"Is that what your father eats?" he questioned.

"Pretty much. Sometimes I could convince him to consume a few veggies."

"But what is the purpose of eating vegetation?" he reiterated.

"Humans are naturally omnivores, Edward. We are meant to eat vegetables, fruit, nuts, and meat. You're just going to have to get used to it. I know some vegetarians, but I don't know anyone who only eats rare meat. You need a variety."

He grimaced again, but seemed to let it go for the time being. When he reached for his steak, however, I had to stop him.

"You need to use a fork and knife," I instructed.

Edward groaned as I instructed him how to use the utensils. He didn't understand the point when using his hands was so much easier, but it only took one lesson for him to be completely efficient.

I watched his face as he chewed the first bite, and I was relieved when he didn't spit it out. He preferred raw meat over the slight sear of the rare, but he tolerated it, and agreed it was much better than the burger. Of course, convincing him to take a sip of water was a different story.

"No way," he said adamantly.

"What is your deal with water?" I asked amused and frustrated. "Is it poisonous to you? Do you melt like the Wicked Witch of the West?"

"No, I just don't like it. They forced me in a shower a few times before, and it was horrible. I swore it would never happen again."

"Well, if you're unwilling to drink water, then this entire thing is pointless. Water is essential for humans. If your diet determines your physicality, then you're not going to be able to resemble a human without water. Just take a little sip."

Edward scowled at the glass in front of him.

"For all we know, drinking it could even possibly make this entire process faster," I added. "Do it for your family."

His eyes lifted his scowl in my direction, but just when I thought he was going to tell me no again, he shocked the hell out of me by grabbing the small glass, and squeezing his eyes shut tight as he took a huge gulp. His features twisted as if it was the most horrid thing he ever tasted, and after a small gag and a cough, he quickly dried his mouth with his sleeve, and looked at me again.

"That wasn't as bad as I was expecting," he admitted.

"Seriously?" I said, feeling weirdly far more excited than I ever would have predicted. I definitely gained a new level of admiration for the water hating vampire in that moment. His will to help his family was absolutely incredible. "That's awesome," I told him. "I'm really proud of you, Edward."

A hint of a smile played on the corner of his lips, and I could tell he was proud of himself too. Of course, he tried to play it off. "I suppose as long as it's not actually on my face, I can tolerate it."

"So, you don't like water on your face," I concluded. "But you never told me why."

"I don't see why it's important," he retorted dismissively.

"Maybe if you tell me why you hate it so much, I can help you get past it," I suggested.

He shook his head subtly, and then sighed. "When I was at the Higginbotham's lab, one of the first things they did was put me in a shower."

"Was it cold, or super hot, or something?" I asked, just as clueless as ever.

"It was cold, but that wasn't the issue."

"Okay, but what was so bad about it?" I asked when he failed to continue his story.

He huffed. "I was smaller back then, and they locked my arms to a table…"

"Can I get you kids anything else?" the waitress interrupted us.

"No, thank you," I said with a little more irritation in my voice than I intended.

"Okay, here's your check. No rush," she said with an overly friendly smile.

Rather than have Edward to finish explaining his traumatic experience with water in the middle of the restaurant, I decided it was best to just pay the bill and head out.

"Let's walk for a bit," I suggested, not wanting to go back to the motel room just yet.

The motel was surrounded by a shopping center, and a few little specialty stores, but behind all of it was a little path that ran along a canal. Between being stuck on buses, and cooped up in a small musty motel room, it was really nice to stretch our legs again.

We walked a bit in silence, just enjoying the quiet and the wide blue sky, but I really felt like I needed to understand his issue with water, so I decided to press the matter.

"What did you mean before, when you said they locked your arms to a table?" I asked carefully.

He looked down at the ground as we continued to walk, but then he looked up blankly. "It's hard to describe," he said softly.

"Will you show me?" I asked, stopping my stride and holding my hand out to him.

"Are you sure water doesn't scare you?" he asked warily.

"I love water," I assured him confidently.

He sighed, "Okay."

Instead of taking my hand like I was expecting, he placed his hand gently on my cheek, and instructed for me to close my eyes, and I was immediately consumed by his vivid memory…

" _Now Edward, you know we must clean you. Your mother used to bathe you, right? This won't be much different," a man in a white lab coat said to the little boy._

 _Edward didn't understand where his parents had gone, or who the strangers in white were, but he had already learned that they usually inflicted pain._

 _His fear was palpable; it rolled off of him in waves, and reverberated off of the walls of the lab. Several of the workers there refused to do the tests on him anymore, because of the strong emotions he emulated which they all were forced to physically experience with him whenever they came in contact with his skin. The man working with him that day, however, had nerves of steel and far less empathy than the rest. He only tried soothing Edward's fears in order to control him long enough to restrain him._

" _Now lie down," the man demanded._

 _With wide eyes, little Edward did as he was told, but he was shaking so badly with fear that the man just became angry._

" _Stop it, or I will be forced to shock you. You don't want me to shock you, now do you?" he threatened._

 _A tear rolled down Edward's face, and then he quickly shook his head no._

" _Lie down!" the man spat through gritted teeth._

 _Edward did as he was told, and waited, terrified, as he was strapped to the table. The straps on his arms and legs were tight, but because he had previously broken free from them once before, he could feel the moment the electrical current began running through the straps. It burned his skin, but he dared not complain, for he knew the strength of the charge could be turned up if he misbehaved._

 _Once he was secure, three other men entered the room. One of the men wore thick, steel chain mesh gloves, and he pried open Edward's mouth to place a metal rod between his teeth so he couldn't close his lips, no matter how hard he tried._

" _Tell me what the point to this experiment is again?" a different man, standing just outside the room, questioned._

" _We are just testing the abilities and weaknesses of the hybrid," the man standing over Edward replied. "Between the electrical current to his limbs, and the water, a normal human wouldn't survive."_

" _So, we are trying to kill it then?" the other man asked._

" _No, of course not. Just trying to find its kryptonite, so to speak," the man by Edward replied._

 _Without further discussion, a light icy shower sprinkled down on Edward's face. He tried to flinch away, but his head restraint wouldn't allow him move even an inch. Due to the metal rod in his mouth, the water ran straight inside his lips, and washed over his tongue, and down his throat. It certainly didn't feel good, but it was more of a nuisance than anything. The worst part was his confusion. Little Edward just couldn't comprehend why they were doing that to him._

 _After a few uncomfortable minutes, the light sprinkle increased, and now it was raining down on him in sheets of freezing water. It came, and came, and just kept coming. The harder the water fell on him, the harder it was to think around it. The water not only went down his throat, it also went through his nose and into his lungs. He was absolutely drowning in the water, but that was only the beginning of the torture. When the flow somehow increased even more, the water began to rush down his legs and arms, and straight to the electrified cuffs. The stinging sensation from the volts increased tenfold, and that shock electrified his entire body, making his muscles seize, and his back arch unnaturally._

 _All of Edward's questions, and concerns for his family, and every single thought in his mind, was drowned out from the pain. It was so excruciating that he was incapable of sensing anything at all - anything except the pure agony._

…

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" I found myself screaming as I recoiled from the excruciating vision. When Edward's hand dropped from my skin, I was immediately released from the horror, but I reflexively fell to my knees and was left absolutely trembling.

"You just told me you liked water," Edward said, almost sounding panicked as he watched me struggle to catch my breath.

I panted a few more times, and then fought through my wobbly legs to stand back upright.

"That… that was not just wa-water," I finally managed to force out. "They… they water-boarded you, and electrocuted you at the same time," I said, horrified as I realized just how badly he was tortured. It was sickening, and I found myself at a loss for words. Those people were definitely the real monsters, and I was beyond disgusted and angry that it had all been at the direction of my family members.

"Edward," I said after I was able to form a coherent thought again. "That was not a shower. That was not regular water. What was done to you was…barbaric. They tortured you, and I am so sorry," I told him with the utmost of sincerity.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything."

"But I know that everything that was done to you was by the order of one of my ancestors. Edward, I can't even begin to tell you how horrible that makes me feel," I said with tears of my own spilling over my cheeks.

"I didn't show you that so you would feel bad," he grumbled with irritation. "I just thought if you could feel the way it felt for me, you would understand and stop insisting on getting me in water."

"I do understand now, and I promise, I won't push it again," I tried assuring him. "But Edward, you need to know, that regular water doesn't feel like that," I said gently.

Edward locked his jaw, and I knew there was no convincing him, at least not at the moment, and that was okay. Recovering from such a trauma would be damn near impossible for most normal people. The fact that Edward was even functioning at all proved his internal strength, I only hoped he could someday build on that strength and finally really heal.

I was going to let the water thing go, but there was one thing I absolutely needed to understand.

"So, you were a child?" I questioned slowly. I had seen a vision of a scared child from him before, but he had deflected my question then. Now I needed answers. "I thought vampires were bitten?"

"I was never bitten by anything," he admitted.

"The man in your vision called you a hybrid?" I realized.

"I'm not sure what that means," he replied. "Like I told you before, no one ever explained anything to me. Not my parents, and not my captors. I do know I used to be smaller than I am now. I was much smaller the last time I saw my family. I also remember that they were concerned about my growth, which is why they went to the Higginbotham's in the first place. My father used to work for them, or something. He had reason to believe they could trust them."

"But instead they had you guys imprisoned," I said, feeling even more angry than before. "I wonder how your father worked for them?" I then questioned. "My dad said humans have been at war with the supernatural beings since the revolution. You weren't around that far back, were you?"

"No, I didn't exist during the time of the Revolution, but apparently the Higginbotham's employed certain monsters, rather than just enslave them. I don't know the entire story, but my father thought they would help us, and we have all been paying for that mistake ever since."

Edward's lack of answers only seemed to cause my questions to multiply tenfold, making my determination limitless. "We need to find a computer so we can see what's on that flash-drive, and we need to do it now."


	12. Connection

**Chapter 12 – Connection**

Lucky for us, a good Samaritan directed us to the local library that wasn't far from the motel. Without any ID, we couldn't check out a book, but that wasn't what we were there for anyway. If only Edward understood that…

"Hey, we need to focus here," I hissed at him when he stopped to browse a few books on our way to the computers.

"I never even knew this many books existed," he said in awe as he let me tow him behind me.

"Someday you will be able to read as much as you want, but right now we need to see what's on this flash-drive," I told him.

"Is this really a computer?" he questioned, sounding a bit disappointed.

"What were you expecting?" I asked amused as I inserted the flash-drive into the slot.

"I guess I wasn't really expecting anything in particular, just more than that," he said, grossly underwhelmed.

I giggled through my nose. "Computers have come a long way over the years. Remember my cell phone that you tossed into the forest? That was actually a mini computer. It's really incredible how simple they've made them. Okay, here we go," I said as a folder popped up onto the screen. I clicked on it, and sure enough, thousands of names of creatures flooded the screen. The names were in alphabetical order, and next to each name was a strange symbol, followed by a four digit number, as well as their owner's surname and home address. There was only one problem…

"What kind of name is _Bone Crusher_?" I asked Edward.

"Oh, I've heard of Bone Crusher before. A minotaur, I think. He's killed hundreds of werewolves. I've always wanted to see him fight."

"Okay, but what was his real name before being imprisoned?" I questioned. Edward shrugged, so I turned back to the screen and continued reading. " _Cinder Dome_ , _Curse of Hades, The Beheader_? How are we supposed to find your family if none of these names are right?"

Edward considered it for a moment. "Try looking for _The Terminator_ ," he suggested.

"The Terminator?" I snorted.

"Yeah. Is that amusing?" he asked, confused by my response.

"It's the title of a movie about a killer cyborg."

"A fictional movie?" he asked unsure.

"Yeah, unless there really is a cyborg with artificial intelligence fighting in the tournaments."

"Not that I'm aware of, but that would definitely be a fight I'd want to see."

I laughed once, and then scanned down to the letter T's. Sure enough, _The Terminator_ was listed. "There it is!" I said excitedly. "Do you think it's your father?"

"No, it's Emmett."

"Emmett!" I said surprised. "Who picks these names for the fighters?"

"I believe their first owner does. New owners can change the monsters' names when they acquire them, but most don't because it's the name that spectators follow and pay big money to see. If they do happen to want to change the name, they are required to keep the same registration number. See? 6452. That's Emmett, and I remember hearing the crowd chant ' _Terminator'_ when he would fight. At least I know he is still alive."

"Do you know the names of any of your other family members?"

He shook his head no.

"Well, do you even know what name you had?"

"They called me ' _Daemon'_ , but I never knew why. They've been calling me that ever since I first arrived at Swan Manor when I was still small. I tried telling people that wasn't my name, but they always ignored me. Emmett, your mother, and you, were the only ones who still called me Edward. To the guards, the crowds, even your father, I was Daemon."

"Hmm," I responded, turning my attention back to the computer. I scrolled back up to the D's, and sure enough, ' _Daemon'_ was listed next to a weird symbol, and a four digit number, as well as the name 'Swan', and my home address. It was physically nauseating just seeing my last name attached to something that horrid.

"It looks like the symbol next to my name and Emmett's are different," Edward said, knocking me out of my momentary self-loathing daze. "I was thinking the symbols represented the creature type, but I guess I was wrong."

I analyzed the symbols, and then shook my head. "Maybe you're not wrong. You and Emmett are not the same species, so you wouldn't have the same symbol."

"We are both vampires," he disagreed.

"No, Emmett is a vampire, you are a hybrid," I corrected him. "Look, your symbol is similar to Emmett's, with just a little variation, but it's completely unique and not repeated anywhere, whereas the symbol by Emmett's name repeats every so often. Edward, you are a genius! If this symbol actually means vampire, it can save us so much time. We can just go to the establishments with vampire symbols, and not worry about the rest," I said enthusiastically.

"That would save time," he agreed.

"Okay, since we know which one of these is Emmett, I say we go there first. It says he lives in Los Angeles! That's not far from here. We could have him free by tomorrow," I said eagerly.

"No, we need to get the treasure first," Edward reminded me.

I nodded once. "Oh, right. So, Brazil first, and then backtrack to LA. Do you think Emmett will help us free the rest of your family?"

"I'm more concerned with getting him to not kill you," he replied casually. "Anything beyond that is a bonus."

"Not killing me would be preferable," I agreed. "But Emmett knows me, right? In your vision, little me seemed comfortable with Emmett too. I spoke of him like a friend."

"He liked you from a distance, but your mother didn't trust him around you without electrified bars between you, and she had good reason. Like I told you before, all the creatures imprisoned are angry. Most of them are starved, and even more importantly, you are the daughter of one of the owners. If given the chance, I would assume they would attack you. With my human diet, I won't be strong enough to protect you against a starved, enraged, vampire. We need to try to figure out a way to do this with the least amount of risk to you as possible."

"I understand," I said with a sigh. The truth was, there was a very real possibility that once Edward was reunited with his family, I would need to part ways with them for my own safety. I couldn't go back to my dad, so I may very well find myself alone and homeless. It was definitely a concern that I had no answer for. I had absolutely no idea what would happen once everything was finished, but I also knew I couldn't worry about that right then either. I would just need to take it all one day at a time.

To make it easier on us, I printed out the list so we wouldn't need a computer to access the addresses. I wrote _'Emmett'_ next to ' _The Terminator'_ , and then we took the flash drive and headed back to the motel room. Despite being a huge compilation of names, we at least had some kind of direction, and a real starting place to find his family. No matter how long it took to visit every location with the vampire symbol on the list, I knew we would eventually find them. If they were alive, we would set them free.

We gathered our things in the motel, checked out, and then made our way to the bus station. Once we finally made it to the San Diego area, we got off the bus and once again, checked into another cheap little motel. This room was even grungier than the last, and I was pretty sure there was a brothel being ran out of a few of the neighboring rooms, but with our limited funds, it was really the absolute most I wanted to spend. In order to leave the country, we would need some fake IDs and some passports, and that all would take money and a little time. We needed to conserve as much of our money as possible if we even had a hope of making it all the way to Brazil.

"So, in the movies, the shadiest areas of cities are usually where we can find someone to make our fake IDs," I told Edward as we got ready to venture out of the motel room.

"I thought you said movies weren't realistic," he challenged me.

"Well, most aren't, but some are, and I have nothing else to go on. Maybe we should ask the motel lobby clerk," I suggested.

We went to the motel office, and I discreetly asked where we could get some falsified IDs. He played dumb for a few minutes, but after I slipped him a twenty dollar bill, he gave me directions to a guy that could help us.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" I said as we walked in the direction the clerk gave us.

Because the motel we were staying at wasn't in the best part of town, the clerk actually knew of a guy who could help us not far from there, so we only had to walk for about ten minutes. Those ten minutes, however, were definitely nerve-wracking.

"Why are you scared?" Edward asked me as we walked.

"I'm not," I replied, wondering why he thought so.

"Yes, you are. Your heart is racing. It sounds just like it does when you have nightmares."

"It is?" I said, unaware of just how nervous I actually was. "I guess I'm just worried about the kind of trouble we can run into. I imagine there are a lot of gangsters and drug dealers around here. This is exactly the type of area my dad always warned me to stay away from."

"There is no need to be scared. I highly doubt there are any monster hunters in this area, therefore there isn't anything I can't handle."

"You haven't had blood in a while. You're not as strong as you normally are," I countered.

"I guarantee I'm stronger than any human."

"Okay, but they have guns," I argued.

"We are going to be fine. Trust me," he said unconcerned.

I held my handbag close as we walked passed loiterers with surly gazes, but when Edward unexpectedly took my hand, I felt a wave of calm wash over me.

' _I would never let anyone hurt you,'_ his voice silently resounded in my mind. I looked up at him, and he looked down at me with a reassuring nod.

I wasn't sure why I was so surprised to hear his voice in my head. I knew he was capable of projecting his thoughts through touching, but I suppose I just wasn't anticipating actual communication in that way. I wondered if he could hear my thoughts just as clearly, but when I looked back up at him, he didn't return my stare.

' _Edward?'_ I thought.

This time his eyes reconnected to mine, and I knew he could hear me once again. I could almost sense his presence re-enter my mind. It was like when you feel someone coming into the room without even looking at them. That was exactly how it felt when Edward tuned into my mind. Without him even having to explain it to me, I understood how his gift worked. It wasn't just an open line of communication, he had to choose to keep the door open between our minds. As weird and invasive as it sounded, it was somewhat comforting knowing we could communicate in that way, especially in situations such as the one we were currently in.

' _It should be just around this corner,'_ I told him telepathically.

He nodded once, and told me to _'Take a deep breath. Everything is going to be fine.'_

Edward was still a virtual stranger, and in addition, he was a supernatural being; but in that moment, despite the situation, I truly felt completely safe with him. Through the link of our hands, I could feel his strong confidence, and his unyielding protectiveness towards me, and in that moment, I knew he would absolutely put his own life on the line to save me from any threat we could possibly face. It was an intense feeling, and it briefly took me aback, but it felt so real and familiar at the same time. He had known me my entire life, and even though I couldn't remember most of our interactions over the years, I realized just how much I really knew him as well. He was more than my friend, he had always existed in a special place deep inside my heart, and I suddenly became just as confident as he was. There was no danger for us - at least not in our current situation.

After asking a few different people, we found our way to the right guy, and paid him to make us our fake ID's and passports. It was definitely a sketchy place, but with my own personal hybrid protector, I was more worried about the men than us. Edward definitely let out a few low growls in the time we were there, and without even knowing what Edward was, the men there almost seemed instinctually scared of him. They knew not to mess with us, and they didn't even make the smallest attempt to do anything shady. We paid half of his price right away, and would pay the rest when we picked up the cards and passports four days later. In the meantime, Edward and I had some time to kill…

"Oh, my god, this is too perfect!" I said excitedly after I spotted a Ferris wheel in the distance.

"What devil contraption is that?" Edward questioned as he let me pull him towards the carnival.

"Listen, part of being a human is doing silly things. You need to learn to cut loose a little," I told him.

"Cut loose?"

"It means to relax and have fun," I explained.

"The fact that I haven't killed anyone yet should be proof that I've already relaxed quite a bit."

"True, but you still need to experience fun."

"You know what would be fun? If you let me go back there and rip those guys' heads off. I think I may even experience that laughing thing you described before."

"What makes you want to hurt those guys?" I questioned. "They weren't exactly stand up citizens, but how do you know they weren't good people, just doing what they have to do to get by? It's not like you ever touched them to read their thoughts."

"I don't have to touch someone to sense emotions; even the emotions of those who aren't currently in the room can linger for a while. There was a lot of fear in there, and none of it was coming from any of those men."

"What does that mean?" I asked confused.

"It means that those men were hurting, or terrifying, someone very recently. Judging by the strength of that residual fear, I'd guess they were hurting multiple people in there."

"Oh, my god," I whispered. "We should go back there and try to help them. Or maybe call the police."

"Bella, do you realize how many people are actually suffering around here? Every other structure we passed emulates fear, and depression, and pain. It oozes out of the windows and bleeds onto the streets. The people in this area are in almost as much agony as the prisoners in the dungeon I just escaped."

"That's horrible," I said, getting choked up.

"I'm actually fairly surprised. I thought that humans would be in constant celebration from being the top species on this planet."

"Well, life can be rough for anyone, but I suppose it's even harder in areas like this," I said quietly.

"Now you're sad," he said with slight irritation.

"I just wish there wasn't so much suffering in this world."

"It's human nature. Your species is doomed to destroy all other creatures, and themselves. It's only a matter of time."

"Well, the revolution proved that vampires aren't much different," I countered.

"Vampires and werewolves are only a variation of human. The world is doomed, regardless of who is in power. Maybe some righteous extraterrestrial life force will invade and save the planet. It's really the only chance we have."

"One can only hope," I said sarcastically. "Since an alien invasion is unlikely to occur tonight, we are going to make good use of our time left on Earth, and we are going to figure out a way to get you to have fun."

"I just don't see the point," he said with a huff.

"Look, even with all of humanity's faults, there is something truly beautiful that makes it all worth persevering."

"Nothing about humanity is beautiful," he disagreed.

"You only believe that because you've never experienced it. But laughter, and joy, and love - that is what makes humans, human."

Edward still looked unconvinced, but when I said, "Please. Do it for me," something in my eyes must have convinced him. As we walked through the carnival, however, he looked absolutely horrified.

"Why are people screaming if this is all supposed to be fun?" he questioned while I bought us some tickets for the rides.

"Some rides are scary, but in a fun way. It mimics danger, without actually being in danger," I explained.

"Adrenaline rush," he concluded.

"Exactly," I confirmed.

The first ride I took him on was the Ferris wheel, because everyone needs to experience a Ferris wheel ride at least once in their life. When he was clearly bored out of his mind, I decided to take him on some of the faster thrill rides. I laughed and screamed at the spinning, flipping, and twirling, but nothing seemed to excite him whatsoever. We even tried our hand at some of the games, which were clearly rigged, but he was able to beat them anyway.

"Was this supposed to be difficult?" Edward asked the shocked looking carnie as all the bottles hit the ground with only one ball thrown.

When the man handed Edward the rather large stuffed dog as a prize, he looked at him confused. "How long has this animal been dead for? It smells of chemicals and feline urine."

"It's a toy, Edward," I told him, before taking his arm and pulling him away.

"Why would they give these to winners?" he questioned confused, while handing me the dog.

"Kids like them, so they beg their parents to spend their money to try to win them."

"Kids like giant fake dead animals?" he asked, clearly not understanding.

"They don't see them as fake animals. They're toys, made for kids to cuddle and use their imaginations to play with," I told him while handing the giant dog to a child walking past us. The little girl smiled and clapped, so I smiled back at her, and then glanced up at Edward. "See?"

We were both quiet as we just stood there for a minute, and watched the girl dance off with her new toy. When she was out of sight, I looked back at Edward, and was surprised to see him staring back at me. The expression on his face was different than I had seen from him before, but it still felt strangely familiar. It wasn't anger or sadness, but it wasn't happiness either. It was something else, something he was trying to conceal, something I could almost remember from our long forgotten history.

"What is it?" I asked him, yearning to understand whatever thought or emotion he was experiencing.

"Nothing," he said dismissively. "So, what's next?"

I wanted to press my question, but I knew if he wanted to talk about it, he would, so I let it go. Since he clearly wasn't enjoying the rides, I wasn't sure what to do next. I looked around the carnival, and suddenly came up with an idea.

"How is this food?" Edward grimaced as he looked at his corndog like it was the most repulsive thing on the planet.

"It's a hotdog, dipped in a corn batter, and deep fried," I told him.

"Hotdog? What is with humans and hotdogs?"

"It's a quintessential staple of American fairs and carnivals. Just try it."

"Surely humans can find better meat than dog," he said, disgusted.

I laughed. "Hotdogs aren't made of dog, they're made of beef, or pork, or sometimes chicken, or turkey. Never dog. They just call it that."

"Chicken and turkeys have even less meat than dogs. Humans are so strange."

I giggled again, and told him, "Just try it."

Edward grimaced, but then he squeezed his eyes shut, and took a bite.

"Oh wait, you forgot the mustard," I said before ripping a little yellow packet open with my teeth, and prying Edward's mouth open with my fingers so I could squirt some in. I couldn't help but laugh at his disturbed expression, and the fact that I made somewhat of a mess on his face. "Sorry about that." Before he could even say a word, I wiped his face with my hand, and then smiled widely, hoping to convey faux innocence.

I half expected him to spit it out, but instead he chewed, and even swallowed. A hint of a smile played on the corner of his lips, and the sight of it actually sent a wave of butterflies deep within my chest.

"You like it?" I asked hopefully.

"No, it's horrible," he replied evenly.

"Why are you smiling then?" I asked, a little disappointed and confused.

"I'm not," he said defensively.

"Yes, you were. It's not something you should be ashamed of. It's a good thing, Edward."

"I wasn't smiling," he said with forced seriousness.

"All I'm saying is smiling is a vital part…"

"What is there left to do here?" he interrupted me. "Because if we've done every stupid thing possible, I'd like to go back to the motel now. I think I've had all the human foolishness I can take for one day."

For whatever reason, his words just irked me more than anything else he had said thus far. "Fine. Let's go back," I said bitterly.

We didn't speak much on our walk back to the motel, and for the rest of the evening things were definitely strained. I went to sleep that night with my back towards him as he watched TV into the late hours, but when I woke up the next day, I was shocked to see him fast asleep on the bed next to me.

"Edward," I whispered. It was no louder than a breath, but I knew if he was awake, he would have been able to hear me. He didn't even flinch, and his mouth was parted ever so slightly. His gentle breath washed over my face, and unlike the last time I found him asleep, this time he actually looked peaceful.

I meant to get up and shower, but I found myself completely entranced by Edward's slumber. It was the first time that I really, truly, looked at his features, and I was struck by just how utterly perfect he actually was. The angular shape of his jaw, the straightness of his nose, his heavy brow over his long lashes. He was inhumanely beautiful, and I wondered how I missed it for that long.

His lips suddenly spread into a genuine smile, and it sincerely took my breath away. He was such a serious, sad soul, that I couldn't help but wonder, beyond all other wonders, what he could have possibly been dreaming about that made him happy.

Without even taking a moment to think it through, I found my hand reaching for his cheek. I tried to convince myself to stop. I used every last ounce of will power I was capable of to attempt to force my hand back to my side where it belonged, but ultimately, I knew my hand would not be controlled.

I had no reason to believe it would work, since I knew he had to allow the mental connection to be made in order for me to have access to his mind, but I hoped his lack of consciousness would give me a window, and I was right.

The moment my fingers came in contact with his skin, I could see into his mind as clearly as I could reminisce about one of my own memories, and I was shocked to see he was dreaming of the carnival.

 _He really did enjoy the carnival?_

The feeling of his muted joy encompassed me, but as I tried to navigate his confusing vision, I realized that the feeling wasn't coming from the carnival itself, but was actually from _my_ enjoyment. My laughter, my jovial screams on the rides, the amusement I got out of seeing his face covered in mustard. Even seeing the little girl we gave the stuffed dog to, reminded him of me as a child, which made him feel a sense of radiance he wasn't usually accustomed to.

I realized then that his only happiness over the long dark years of captivity, was seeing me. And now, in a world he didn't understand, I was still the only thing that made him even remotely want to smile. The thought sent a warm glow throughout my body, but at the same time, it was just yet another devastating reminder of the torture he had endured most of his life. His only light in the darkness had been the brief visits he got from me as a naïvely cheerful child. It was despicable, and I became even more determined to find a way to show him true happiness, any way that I could…


	13. Trespassing

**Chapter 13 – Trespassing**

The next couple days dragged on. After our short visit to the carnival, Edward seemed to fall into a funk that he clearly had no desire to dig his way out of. He didn't want to do anything except hang out in the motel room, and watch TV. I was able to convince him to venture out to get food twice a day, but other than that, he hardly left the chair next to the bed. When I tried to talk to him about it, he would just clam up and become even more distant.

Even worse than Edward's frustrating attitude, was my newfound bad habit of watching his dreams while he slept. He didn't sleep anywhere close to as long as I did, but he was getting into a more regular routine of a couple hours a night, and I made sure to be awake during those hours, just to get a peek into his mind.

For the most part, Edward had nightmares about his time of torment, and during those unconscious terrifying recollections, it was painfully clear that he would be locked in one of his sleep paralysis episodes. But occasionally, he would dream of me as a child, or even my mother, who he had warm feelings for, and his entire body was much more relaxed. It was really good to see my mom through his perspective; he knew a different side of her than I was ever privileged to know myself, and it made me feel just a little bit closer to her.

He also briefly dreamed of people I could only assume were his family members. A tall handsome blonde man, with golden eyes, and a kind smile. He would read Edward stories, and always made him feel a sense of security like no other. With the man, was a beautiful brunette woman, who I vaguely recognized as the maddened vampire from the fighting ring, except she was so much healthier looking, and happy, but also constantly worried at the same time. The couple, who I presumed were his parents, were warm and loving, and nothing you would ever expect vampires to be. There was also another blond woman, who accompanied them everywhere they went. She would sing to Edward, and play little games with him. I wasn't exactly sure who she was, but Edward loved her, almost as much as he loved his parents.

The sweet dreams of me and my mother, and his family, never lasted long. They were always drowned out by the horrors of his imprisonment, and usually forced me to withdrawal my hand before the vision was even over. Through those dreams, and even nightmares, I began to feel like I truly knew Edward. He had so many layers to him, but with every vision I intruded on, I was peeling back those layers – I only wished I knew the awake Edward as much as I was getting to know the sleeping one.

"You know, I was looking in this phone book here, it seems this mini golf course is within walking distance. Do you want to go try it?" I asked him during the third afternoon of confinement.

"I don't know what golf is, but I'd rather just stay here," he replied evenly, without diverting his eyes from the TV screen.

I sighed. "Edward, why are you suddenly unwilling to even try anything? Was the carnival really that bad?"

I already knew he didn't hate the carnival as much as he pretended to, but he had yet to admit it, and I was still hoping he would open up, even just a little.

"Bella, I tried to see it your way. I tried the 'fun' thing, and I just don't get it. We have a long journey still ahead of us, and I don't think wasting valuable finances on frivolous things is wise."

"Okay, but we can go for a walk," I suggested. "The beach isn't far from here. I've always wanted to visit a beach that wasn't freezing."

"I've heard of the word 'beach' before, but I'm not sure I know what it is."

"It's where the ocean meets the shore."

"Ocean, as in large body of _water_?"

I grimaced. "Yes, but you don't have to get in the water. It's just nice to look at the waves crashing in."

He shook his head in disagreement.

Realizing that we weren't going anywhere at the moment, I plopped down on the bed next to him, and that was when I noticed something significant.

"Edward, I doubt I'm going to offend you here with this, since it's kind of a human social faux pas thing, but you are starting to stink."

"Stink? How so?"

"Like," I leaned in to him to get a closer whiff. "Sweat, and body odor." And then I noticed something even more shocking. "Oh, my god! Is this stubble on your chin?"

I reached up to his face to see if the hint of a shadow had texture, but Edward practically jumped back.

"I don't want you touching me!" he hissed.

"I'm sorry," I told him sincerely, suddenly feeling horrible about my nightly secret trespassing into his mind. I knew he didn't like being touched – besides the mustard incident, our only physical contact that he was aware of was by his choice. I suppose I didn't realize just how severe his feelings were on the matter until that moment.

He huffed. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you like that. I just wasn't expecting you to…" He let his words trail off. He locked his jaw as he regained his composure, and then he looked back at me. "What is stubble?"

"It's hair that's just starting to grow. On men, it comes in on the face."

Edward reached up to his jaw, and looked surprised. "Why is it all poky?"

"It just comes in like that. If you don't shave it off it will get softer as it grows longer."

"During the experiments with a human diet they ran on me in the lab, I never grew hair on my face," he mused.

"You were a child then. Little boys don't grow facial hair until they're men. Edward, you are definitely becoming more human, and humans stink when they're not clean. We need to figure out a way to get you clean soon."

He shook his head again. "I'm not getting in water."

"I understand, but if you are grungy and smell, there is no way they're going to let you into those tournaments, and this entire thing is pointless."

"I will figure it out," he said, refusing to waver. He returned his attention to the TV, and just like that, he was withdrawn from the world around him, and completely fixated on whatever the hell was on the screen.

I just didn't understand it. Was TV really as addictive and destructive as some scientists claimed it was, or was something else going on with Edward? He reminded me more of someone who was depressed, or perhaps he was just experiencing a sense of shell-shock. The world could be overwhelming for anyone, but with a background like his, it made sense he would have a difficult time processing it all. My only hope was that once we were back on the road, he would be forced to snap out if it a little.

I let out a long, slow breath. "I'm going to get some air."

I needed a couple minutes out of that musty room, but as I stood just outside the door, I quickly realized it wasn't the best idea.

"Hey, sweetheart. Looking for some quick cash?" a woman, wearing thigh high boots and a barely there dress, asked me. She was standing in front of the room next to ours, and her door was open enough for me to see what looked like people having sex inside.

"No thanks," I said quickly. Rather than going back into the room with Edward, I decided to go for a little walk. There was a Walmart not far from there, so I figured I'd just browse the aisles and hope for some sort of inspiration to help with Edward's B.O. problem.

I grabbed a basket, and started filling it with some various items. Men's deodorant, cheap cologne, body wipes, dry shampoo, and a small shaving kit. I was probably only in the store for a little more than fifteen minutes, when suddenly I had a strange feeling like someone was following me.

"You're just being paranoid, Bella," I told myself. I took my items to the checkout, and hurried outside, but the feeling persisted. I kept looking behind me, but I never saw anything alarming. Just to be safe, I changed direction twice, and went the long way back to the motel room, simply because it was much more populated.

By the time I made it back to the room, my heart was racing, but I quickly realized there was an even bigger issue.

"Edward?" I called out when I didn't see him in his usual spot on the chair. I checked the bathroom as well, but he wasn't there either. Instead of thinking logically, my mind automatically went to worst case scenario, and I became terrified that the creature hunters somehow found us and recaptured him.

I opened the door to the outside, and called his name. Like earlier, the woman next door offered to help me earn extra cash, but I ignored her.

"Edward!" I called again.

"That handsome fella of yours went out searching for you a little bit ago," the woman informed me. "He even asked me if I saw you. He sure had an evil look in his eyes. Handsome devil, that one. You're one lucky bitch, aren't you? But make sure you keep your eyes peeled around here. Pretty, unaccompanied, transient kids like you tend to go missing in these parts. "

"Which way did he go?" I asked her, irritated.

"I don't know. How important is it to you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Never-mind, I'll find him myself."

I walked back towards the store, but then that uneasy feeling returned to me, and all the hairs on my body stood on end.

I hurried back to the more populated area of the street, and the feeling of nervous paranoia grew. A little voice in the back of my mind warned me to go back to the room, and regardless of how worried I was for Edward, I knew better than to ignore my instincts, so I turned around and hurried towards the motel. But just as I was rounding the corner, I was abruptly grabbed from behind, which made me scream.

"Shh, it's just me," Edward said, holding me so close that his warm sweet breath washed down my neck.

He let go of me, so I turned to face him. "You scared the hell out of me! What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? What were you doing? I look up from the TV and you were gone. What were you thinking just leaving like that? You could have been attacked, or eaten."

"Eaten?" I huffed. "Not likely."

"You don't realize what type of monsters are out there."

"Okay, whatever, but you still shouldn't have been following me like that. You totally freaked me out. Why didn't you just say you were back there?"

"I'm only finding you right now," he refuted. "I tracked your scent to a store and back, but this is the first that I've seen you since you left."

"You weren't following me while I was in the store?"

"No."

"That's so weird. It definitely felt like someone was following me," I mumbled as I reconsidered the feeling I was having.

Edward, however, believed me. He looked around, and then took my arm and led us hastily back to the room, before locking us inside, and peering out the window.

"I'm sure it's fine. It was probably just in my overactive imagination. My dad always called me paranoid."

"Never doubt your instincts, Bella," he said, repeating what my mother had always said to me. It was one of the few things that I remembered clearly of her, and I had always taken it to heart.

"So, you think someone was following me?"

"There was definitely another scent in almost every location I smelled yours," he confirmed, and then he grew angry. "Damn it, Bella! Why would you just leave like that? You could have gotten seriously hurt, or even killed!"

"I just ran to the store!" I shouted back at him. "You refused to leave the TV. I couldn't stand being stuck in here a moment longer. I told you I was leaving, and you didn't even look up at me."

"No, you told me you were stepping outside for air. I heard you. I wasn't ignoring you; it was a vital part of the show."

"I just don't get it. After being locked in cages for so long, why are you forcing yourself in this cage? We should be out there, experiencing the world, not stuck in these dingy four walls."

He shook his head. "No, you don't get it."

"Maybe if you explained to me how you're feeling…"

"I can't explain to you what I don't understand myself," he argued.

"Then show it to me."

"No."

"Why?" I asked frustrated.

He stared me down with a slight head shake, as if to tell me to stop pressing the matter. So I huffed, then plopped down on the bed next to him, and did my best to give him the cold shoulder. I knew he had issues, and I knew he may never truly open up about everything, but what I didn't know was how to stop being so frustrated by it. He wasn't normal, and I needed to remember to not expect normal behavior and reactions from him. I suppose it was something I needed to work on in myself.

I sighed. "What are we watching now?" I asked after I forced myself to let go of my bitterness.

"How about you decide," he said, handing me the remote. "When you were little, you used to tell me about a pony show that you loved. Maybe we can find it on here somewhere."

"That's sweet, but I've outgrown _My Little Pony_."

"How could you outgrow it? You don't wear a show, so what should your size have to do with enjoying it?"

"It doesn't. My Little Pony is still a great show, but I think I'm in the mood for something a little more mature."

I started flipping through the channels, and without finding anything interesting, I handed him back the remote. "I'm up for whatever interests you."

…

The next morning was finally day four of our stay, which meant our IDs should have been ready. By then, Edward's hair was starting to look pretty greasy, which only added to his all around stinky funk, so we tried the products I picked up at the store the day before. The deodorant and cologne helped mask his odor, but the dry shampoo left flakes in his hair, and didn't even cut through the oil.

"Well, perhaps I can get a different brand that will work better," I mused after re-reading the dry shampoo directions to make sure I did it right.

"Bella, I know you have dull human senses, but all of this stuff you put on me is really putrid," Edward commented as we began gathering our things so we could go to meet the guy that was getting us our fake IDs.

"It's better than your B.O. smell. Trust me," I teased.

Edward lifted his arm to get a whiff of his pit, but the sight of it just made me giggle, so I pulled his arm down and pushed him out the door.

We didn't even get to the street in front of the motel before that uneasy nervous feeling consumed me again.

"Do really you think my stink is going to mess up this deal?" Edward asked, misconstruing my discomfort.

"No, I just… Something just doesn't feel right. It's almost the same feeling I had yesterday at the store."

"We can call it off," he offered. "Find a different way to get falsified identification."

"No, we need these now, and we already paid them half. Are you sure you're still stronger than normal humans?"

"Positive," he said confidently, and just to prove his point, he grabbed a hold of a bike rack we were passing, and bent one of the metal rods. "Can most humans do that?"

I smirked. "No."

"Okay then. I'm definitely weaker than I was before, but I'm not concerned about anything a regular human can possibly do to us. Everything is going to be okay. Trust me."

I nodded, and then we finished our walk to our intended location in silence.

As we entered the building, I watched Edward's face wince as he undoubtedly felt the suffering of the people in the next room once again. I almost wished I could have just spared him the pain and gone there alone, but when I saw all the unfriendly faces around us as we walked passed, I was certainly glad he was there.

"We are here for our documents," I informed the man we were doing business with.

The man looked up at us, and then he made some kind of signal to a different man with the dreadlocks standing behind me.

"Larry, tell Jay to come in too," the man commanded his associate, before turning to us. "Welcome back. I trust you have enjoyed your stay here as you've waited for your documents?"

"San Diego is beautiful. We didn't get to the beach though," I replied.

"That is a shame. So, Miss Masen, tell me about your family."

"My family?" I asked confused.

"I was just wondering if we will be getting a visit from the police looking for you in the next couple weeks. Most people wanting to get fake documents are running from someone."

"We were under the impression you were discreet," I countered.

"I am."

"Then why are you asking us about our business?"

"Just trying to be prepared," he replied. "Is _Masen_ a made up name?"

"Why would we give you our real names," I said irritated. "If we wanted IDs made with real information, we would go through legal channels."

"Touché. What's his deal?" he asked, pointing to Edward. "Do you not speak?"

"He's shy," I lied, knowing it was best for me to do the talking since Edward was short tempered and even more naïve than I was.

"You didn't answer my question. Does he speak?" the man asked again.

"Of course I speak," Edward told him. "But I'm trying to refrain from killing you, so it's best I keep my distance."

The man smirked. "That's cute." The door opened, and in walked the man with the dreadlocks, and a second man with long, sandy blonde hair, who was carrying a manila envelope. "Finally," the man at the desk huffed. "Jay, is this your case?" he asked one of them strangely.

"Yes, Mr. Jenks," the sandy haired man replied.

"Tell me, why was this not handled yesterday?" he snapped at him.

"I lost her, sir," the sandy haired man said nervously. "I was tailing her throughout the store, but every time I was about to close in, she would disappear."

"I'm sorry, what are you saying?" I asked, thinking I understood, but hoping I was wrong.

They ignored my confusion.

"I found her again as she left the store, but I never got a clear opportunity to grab her," the Jay guy added.

The man behind the desk turned to the man with the dreads. "Larry, have you ever failed me in this way?"

"No, sir," he replied evenly.

"I don't think anyone has. I'm disappointed, Jay."

"Mr. Jenks, it may be a good thing. This dude could fetch a good price too. Some of your clients prefer boys with pretty faces like the one he's got," the Larry guy suggested.

"Um, whatever you guys are talking about, we don't want any part of," I said, before giving Edward a meaningful look. It was clearly time to go.

Edward glared at each of the men in the room, but didn't move. When I went to grab his arm so we could leave, Larry and Jay pulled out guns, and each aimed them at us. I reflexively raised my hands, just like they do in movies when guns are pointed at people, but Edward remained still, and continued to glare.

"We don't want any trouble," I said fearfully.

"Bella, don't be scared. They can't hurt you," Edward told me calmly.

To dispute his claim, Jay cocked his gun, and aimed it right for my head. "You are both property of us now."

"My friend, Jay, is correct," the man behind the desk said smugly. "You now belong to me, until I sell you to the highest bidder."

"I would lower your weapon," Edward warned Jay.

"I'll lower it once you're detained," Jay responded.

Mr. Jenks stood from his seat, and approached us with a couple pair of handcuffs. He locked my arms behind my back, and then did the same to Edward. My eyes widened as I watched the supernatural being almost smirk as he was being detained by ordinary metal cuffs, and he made his amusement known.

"These aren't even electrified."

Edward easily pulled his hands forward - as if the cuffs were nothing more than cheap toys, and turned to Mr. Jenks. "I've grown bored of this. We will be taking our documents now."

Jay leapt onto Edward's back in another attempt to restrain him, but he easily threw him off.

"You know, I really don't like to be touched," Edward told him, his voice suddenly becoming menacing.

"This guy must be on drugs or something. He's too much trouble. Take him out, and get rid of the body," Jenks instructed.

Before either of the goons had a chance to move, Edward grabbed the gun out of the hands of the man closest to him, but the second man was able to take his shot. The bullet hit Edward on the left shoulder, and a small circle of blood formed on his shirt there.

I gasped, but Edward just got angry. He glared at the man, and then marched towards him, igniting a stream of bullets from the guy's gun, all hitting him on various locations on his chest, but Edward didn't slow down. When he was within arm's reach of the man, the guy took one last shot, which he landed point blank, right in the middle of Edward's forehead.

Edward froze, and my heart jumped out of my chest. Blood started gushing down his face, and I honestly thought he was about to fall over, however his stance never faltered. Instead, his hand slowly reached up to his head wound, and shocked me speechless as he used his fingers to dig the bullet from his hemorrhaging flesh.

The men around us looked just as shocked as I was, and when Edward held the bullet from his forehead up to examine it, the man who shot him damn near fell over.

"That hurt," Edward seethed. His glare returned to the man with the gun, who was clearly now terrified.

"Nah. To hell with this," the man said, before turning and running out of the room.

"What the hell are you?" the second goon asked, terrified.

"A demon, and I'm here to take you to hell," Edward replied so darkly that a chill even ran down my own spine.

The man pissed himself, literally, and then slowly backed away. Just as he turned to run, Edward threw the bloody bullet, and hit the man in his leg so hard it may as well have been shot from a gun. The man screamed, and immediately began crying in horror as he tried to crawl away. I almost felt sorry for him – _almost_.

With the goons gone, Edward turned his bloody glare at Mr. Jenks. "Our documents," he demanded, and then surprised me by adding a sinister "Please," while holding his hand out towards him.

"What are you?" Jenks mumbled with a mix of fear and astonishment.

"I will dig the bullets out of my chest to throw at you if you make me wait a minute longer," Edward warned him.

"Ye-yes, sir."

Once it was in his hands, Edward easily freed me from the cuffs on my wrists, and handed me the folder, telling me to "Check it."

Strangely enough, the documents were actually there, which only confused me. If they had sinister plans for us, why would they go to the trouble to make them?

"They're here," I said, my voice clinched in my throat.

"Thank you for your business," Edward told him. "We will be keeping the second half of payment as retribution for this debacle."

"Of course. I was about to say that," Jenks agreed.

"Let's go, Bella," Edward told me. I rushed to his side, and he placed his hand on the small of my back as he began leading us towards the exit. Just before we were about to leave, however, Edward paused, and turned back to the extremely stunned Jenks. "You need to leave now. Go back to wherever you came from, and never come back to this area. If you do, I'll know, and I'll be saving these bullets in my chest for you."

Jenks absently nodded his head, and then quickly departed the room. The moment he was out of sight, Edward opened what looked like a closet door, and exposed a not so secret room with five terrified and crying young girls inside.

"He's not going to be hurting you anymore. You're free to go," he told them.

As the girls stumbled their way through the door frame, I suddenly had an idea. "Hold on." I rushed to the desk, and easily found a fairly large stack of cash in one of the drawers. I divided it amongst the girls, and wished them good luck.

When we were alone, I pulled off my sweatshirt and held it to Edward's still bloody head wound.

"Bella, I'm fine," he tried assuring me. "It probably wouldn't have even broken my skin if I was on my regular diet."

I nodded absently as a response. I suddenly found myself lost in a daze as I began to realize what just happened. I was fairly certain those creeps were human-traffickers, something I had read about but never dreamed I would ever encounter. Had Edward not been there, or if he was just a normal human, I would have probably been lost to the crime and enslaved for the rest of my days. It was absolutely nauseating, and I honestly felt like I was going to be sick.

I wasn't sure how Edward managed to get us back to the motel room without drawing attention to himself, since he was absolutely covered in his own blood, but when we got there, he guided me to the bed so I could sit.

"There were other men there. Other men that didn't see what happened. They'll come to look for us," I said, mildly fearful, but mostly just numb.

"There were definitely a lot of bad people in that building, but they all kept to themselves and seemed to be running their own heinous businesses," he replied unconcerned. "They probably didn't even flinch when they heard the gunshots."

"You were shot in the head," I murmured slowly. "I suppose it was nothing compared to what you've experienced in the fighting ring, but for me, that was…" I let my words trail off as the horrible image replayed in my mind.

As crazy as it sounded, seeing that type of violence was somehow worse than watching the monsters rip each other apart in the tournament. Perhaps it was the fantastical supernatural aspect that allowed me to watch the tournament with less fear. I could separate myself from it; almost believe it was some sci-fi movie. But coming face to face with hardened criminals, who clearly had no problem killing people, was difficult to process.

"Hey Bella," Edward said gently as he squatted down in front of me. "I got most of the blood off my face with those wipes you bought, but it stained my hands and chest pretty bad. I think… I think I'm going to need to actually wash them."

His words shocked me enough to break through my dazed state.

"Like, with water?"

He looked down for a moment, but then met my stare again. "Yeah. Will you help me?"

"Of course."

I held out my hand towards him, and my heart fluttered when he took it. I led him to the bathroom, and through our touch I could feel his nerves grow as we drew closer. I could also feel that he really didn't care about blood stained skin, but that he was doing it solely for me - to help take my mind off of everything that just happened. It definitely worked. Everything else faded away as I held his hands under the faucet. All of my focus, and all of my emotions, were directed at him, and this monumental step he was taking.

"See? Water isn't painful," I murmured as the warm water flowed over his palms and down his fingers. I rubbed his hands, both as an attempt to clean him, and as comfort, and thankfully I could feel him begin to relax.

I grabbed a hand towel that was within reach, and I wet it under the faucet.

"Can I?" I asked, holding it towards his chest.

Edward's jaw locked, but he nodded regardless of his apprehension. Ever so carefully, I dabbed the blood from the wounds that were exposed, but there were still so many that were hidden under his clothes.

"Will you take off your shirt?"

I could feel his hesitation, but we both knew it needed to be done, so he reluctantly complied.

"Just tell me if anything hurts." I began dabbing at his wounds, but unlike the one on his forehead, they were still bleeding.

"The bullets lodged inside aren't letting them close," he explained. "I need to get them out."

He backed away from me, and then turned so I wouldn't see.

"I can help you."

"Unless you have some kind of heavy tool, I'm not sure you have the strength to do it. Just give me a minute."

He only hissed slightly as he dug the bullets out with his bare fingers, and as I saw the blood hitting the floor, I was grateful he turned away.

When he was finished, he grabbed one of the towels, and wiped the wet blood from his abdomen, and then faced me again. "Piece of cake," he said, but then seemed to rethink his words. "Why did I just say _cake_?"

I laughed. "It's just a saying. You must have picked it up from TV."

"Emmett would say that after fights, but I never understood why."

"Emmett was a good friend to you. I hope we can get to him and set him free," I mumbled, lost in the way his wounds were sealing before my very eyes. "That's amazing."

Edward looked down at himself. "Those human bullets only sting a bit. The ones the creature hunters shot at me were a hundred times worse."

"And yet, you still acted like they were nothing," I remembered from our traumatic escape from my home dungeon.

He raised his shoulders. "There are far worse things than physical pain."

I nodded in understanding and agreement.

"Can I try to clean your skin again?"

"Actually," he said, looking behind him at the shower. He turned back to me, and released a heavy breath. "I think it's time to stop letting fear of water get the best of me."

I smiled in awe of him, and nodded once, before going over to the shower to turn it on.

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

"That's all I've ever wanted," he whispered, taking me aback, and sending my heart racing at the speed of light…


	14. Not Pain

**Chapter 14 – Not Pain**

I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest as I pulled my shirt over my head, and then pushed my pants down my hips.

Edward just stared at me; his eyes full of mixed emotions as he waited for my instructions. He was understandably nervous about the water, but he also looked at me with a sense of confusion, and even perhaps a little of something else, something not so negative. He tried to keep his eyes on my face, but I saw them lower a few times as we waited for the water to warm. I wasn't completely nude, but I knew it was more than he had ever seen in person, and a major part of me was unexpectedly excited about that fact. If I had been standing in front of anyone else in just my bra and underwear, I probably would have been embarrassed and bashful, but I didn't feel any of that with Edward. I found myself wanting him to look at me, and maybe I even wanted him to do more than look.

"Take off your pants," I told him.

He didn't move his eyes off of me as he unbuttoned his pants, and let them fall to his ankles.

I put my hand in the water to test the temperature, and my heart fluttered even more from realizing it was warm and ready for us.

I got into the shower first, and held my hand out towards him. "I'm here with you," I assured him gently.

He hesitated, only for a moment, and then he took my hand, and stepped into the water. He flinched as the spray hit his skin, and through the contact of our hands, I could see his thoughts immediately return to his time of torture.

"I'm here," I repeated.

He looked up at me, and his feelings immediately changed. A warming glow ran through him, that had nothing to do with the temperature of the water. I could feel his love for me, even if he didn't understand it himself. His affection only confused and scared him, so I let go of his hand, and reached for a washcloth.

"I'm just going to wash away the blood," I mumbled to him.

His muscles visibly tensed as I attempted to rub away the stain. Gently at first, and as he let go just a little of his tension, I added pressure. Edward didn't like to be touched. I could feel what he was feeling, and I finally understood why. All of the touches he had experienced since he was a small child, had resulted in pain. He wasn't exactly fearful of touch, because he wasn't fearful of pain, he simply didn't like it. He did, however, like the way it felt as I was currently touching him, but liking it, only brought him that much more confusion.

Between the water spray on his shoulders, and my touching of his abdomen, it was almost too much for him. It was sensory overload, but at the same time, I could also feel his desire for it to continue.

My hands ran from the elastic band of his underwear, up the ridges of his toned abdominal muscles, and continued upwards to his chest. His eyes closed reflexively, but he kept his head down, which allowed me access to his beautiful head.

"I'm going to wash your hair now," I murmured.

He didn't move, except for a subtle head nod, so I reached for the shampoo, and squeezed a little in my palm. I began gently massaging it into his hair, and I was relieved to feel his reserved enjoyment of the act. He even let out a small purr from deep inside his chest. The sultry sound did strange things to my body, and created certain desires I never experienced before.

"We need to rinse," I warned him softly. I nudged him back a little, so the water reached his soap covered head, and did my best to keep from getting too much in his face. With him being so much taller than me, it was almost impossible to keep his face completely dry, but as the water ran over his closed eyes and nose, and even trickled over his lips, he stayed calm.

"Are you okay?" I asked him concerned. I could already feel how okay he was through our connection, I just wanted to hear him voice it in order to be sure.

"I'm okay," he muttered in response.

When the water falling over his head ran clear, I used my palms to wipe off his face. My fingers lingered around his lips, and the next thing I knew, my own lips replaced my fingers.

Kissing Edward was the single most surreal moment of my life thus far, and it quickly became surreally awkward.

"That was weird, right," I mumbled, after quickly pulling back.

"Yeah, weird," he agreed quietly.

"Super weird," I added, which turned into me rambling through my own insecurities. "I'm sorry, I don't know what made me do that. I'm not one of those types of girls that kisses on a whim, and I'm not good at it, and even if I was, I know you don't understand kissing..."

Everything with Edward was shocking, but the most shocking thing yet was when he stopped my rambling by pressing his lips to mine. That simple, breathtaking kiss, quickly escalated to a full blown, lip smacking, teeth chattering, desperate and intense make out session.

It was a desire he didn't understand, and an act completely foreign to him, but he kissed me just as fervently as I was kissing him. My history of lackluster kisses was long forgotten and completely overshadowed by the most amazing feeling I had ever experienced before. There were no thoughts or concerns, we were both running on pure sensation.

Somehow, we got out of the shower, and ended up trying to devour each other on the bed. Our hands were everywhere, and our lips separated, only long enough to explore different areas of other's body, and then our lips would come crashing back together like thunder in a storm.

It was too much, too intense, and yet, our bodies craved to be even closer. There was no discussion, no confusion, or even a single question voiced between us ass our bodies joined. It was all blissful, intoxicating, compulsive, sensational instinct, and as primal as life itself.

The feeling only grew every time his body moved into mine, until it became so extreme that I wasn't sure if it was pleasure or pain. I didn't know if I could take any more, but I couldn't let go either, and I only wanted to hold on to him tighter. The explosive climax hit me stronger than I ever thought possible, and left me gasping for air as he stilled inside of me.

A warm pulsating glow ran through every inch of me, and I could feel a similar feeling coming from Edward in waves through our connected bodies, but as the feeling began to recede to a numbing languid mush, a new emotion radiated out of him, and it wasn't a good one.

He pulled back, and looked at me absolutely horrified. I was still touching his skin, but the mental connection between us was abruptly cut off. He shut me out, which only made me self-conscious.

I had been so overwhelmed from my own emotions, that I wasn't sure if he enjoyed it. Hell, the fact that I just had sex for the first time would be surreal in and of itself, but the fact that it was with a supernatural being was utterly mind-blowing, and I honestly wasn't sure how I would feel about it once it really sunk in.

Edward's look of horror quickly morphed into panic. "I… I don't know why I… Did I hurt you? Are you bleeding?"

Even without access to his mind, I could feel his confusion and concern for me, clearer than I could currently decipher any of my own emotions. He didn't understand what we just did, and I needed to explain it to him.

"I'm fine," I tried reassuring him as gently and doubtlessly as I could. "We…" Hell, it would be awkward to talk about sex with anyone ignorant on the topic, but trying to figure out the best way to explain it to a shell-shocked vampire, more than twice my age, seemed next to impossible. "Uh…"

He reached for my face, and I felt our connection again. I was having a hard time telling him what he needed to know, but perhaps I could show him a little easier. I replayed every touch, every feeling, as best as I could recall in that surreal state, with an emphasis on just how much I wanted it. There was no pain. There wasn't anything except that beautiful physical unification as intense as our emotional bond. Even without the words to explain it, I was grateful to feel his understanding on a deeper level.

He released his concern, and relaxed into curious excitement.

"It's natural," I said as I slowly became comfortable finding the words. "People have sex when they love each other. I guess some people have sex when they just like each other too."

"When they _like_ each other?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah, people don't have to be in love to want to have sex; some do it just because it feels good. I've known some people who have sex with strangers."

Edward grimaced. "Strangers? Why would anyone want to press themselves against a stranger? I don't even know why I wanted to do it to you. I mean, it felt good, I think, I just can't imagine wanting to be inside a random person like that."

"Well, you don't like people, so it makes sense you wouldn't want to have sex with someone you just met."

"You said people do sex with people they love? No wonder why your dad wants to keep you safe."

I raised my brows. "Huh?"

"Well, you said you love your dad. I imagine he missed doing sex with you."

I nearly choked on my own spit. "No! No, no, no, no. Ew! People do not have sex with family members. I have never, and would never, do that…" I paused to gag. "With my dad."

"Oh. But why?"

"It just isn't done. No sex with family members. If I had a brother, I'd never do it with him either. No uncles or cousins, no family. Sex is only between non-genetically related consenting adults."

"Adults of the opposite gender?"

I shrugged. "That's the most common type, but I have a gay friend back at school."

"She is _happy_?" he asked confused.

I laughed once. "Well, it's a he, and yes, he is a fairly happy person, but when I say _gay_ , I'm referring to his sexual preference. He is attracted to other boys."

"Oh. And he has sex with these boys?"

"Uh, well, sex is usually a private act, and not everyone likes to discuss it in casual settings, but as far as he was comfortable telling me, he hasn't had sex yet. When he feels ready, and finds a guy he likes and likes him in return, they will probably have sex."

"But how does he know he wants to have sex with boys, and not girls, if he never did it before?"

"He just knows. It's the same as me knowing I was attracted to boys, even before having sex. It's a feeling you have – like a flutter in your stomach, or just a desire to be closer to someone. An attraction. I suppose it's hard to describe."

"I've never felt that way about boys or girls," he mumbled. "Except you, but only recently. I didn't want to be close to you like this when you were smaller."

"Sex is only for adults," I told him again.

He nodded. "That makes sense. Your body is different now. You have these," he said, running his hand over my breasts.

"If you like boobs, you're definitely not gay," I told him with a giggle.

"I like everything about you," he said, with desire thick in his voice. His hand ran down my body, straight to that marvelous, but tender, spot between my thighs. "I never knew physical contact could be anything but pain. But nothing about you is pain. You are all… _not_ pain."

I smiled, and then reached for his arm, where I caressed up to his shoulder, and onto his neck. "Edward, do you want to be inside me again?"

His eyes locked to mine. "I think I want to be inside of you every moment of always."

"Come here," I said, pulling him over me so he was back between my legs.

"Bella, remember when I told you I didn't understand kissing?"

"Yeah," I said with my smile spreading across my face.

"I understand it now. I really enjoy sucking your lips," he said, before showing me just how much he enjoyed it. He kissed me hungrily, and with the surreal shock of what we were about to do waned, I was able to focus on every touch, and I felt every time he thrust into me. It had to be the best feeling in the world, and I honestly wished it would go on forever…

We stayed in bed for longer than I realized, as we altered between making love and sleeping in each other's arms, but all too soon, my stomach was protesting the lack of nourishment.

"We need to go find some food," I grumbled, still not wanting to separate from him, but knowing it was time. "And we should probably get back on the road. We have our IDs now, we may as well use them."

He sighed. "I suppose you're right. We will run out of money if we stay here much longer. We really need to get to Brazil."

I kissed his chest, and then I fought through my languid muscles to force myself up to my knees. "Come shower with me."

"You know, I think I may actually like water after all," he said with a smirk.

I smiled widely back at him. "Water can be pretty amazing. I may even let you fuck me in there."

"Fuck?"

I giggled. "It's a crude words for sex."

He nodded absently. "So what does ' _Fuck that shit_ ' mean? Emmett used to say that all the time."

I laughed harder. "I would assume he meant something wasn't good, or he refused to do something. People use the word fuck for several different meanings. I'll explain it more later. Right now, the only description for 'fuck' you need to know, is the one you're about to do to me in the shower."

"Sounds good to me."

…


	15. Not Love

**Chapter 15 – Not Love**

As weird as it sounded, having sex with a supernatural being, that some would even call a monster, wasn't weird at all. On the contrary, being with Edward almost felt like opening my eyes for the first time, and discovering the truth about the world and who I really was. In fact, in thinking back to my life before him, and the boys I dated or even just liked, I realized it had all felt almost unnatural. A regular human relationship would probably never sustain me, and I couldn't help but wonder what that meant for my future. Being with Edward felt more real, and made me feel more alive, than anything I had ever experienced before, and I was so incredibly grateful that I took that leap of faith to set him free. We were both finally living, probably for the first time.

Edward and I spent the next day and a half discovering each other, and ourselves. We took breaks to find some food, but we would hurry back to the motel room as quickly as possible, and immediately began peeling our clothes off again.

I probably would have been blissfully happy staying in that grungy room for the rest of my life, but Edward and I both knew we needed to get out of San Diego. We didn't necessarily think there would be any kind of retaliation from the low-lifes we had that violent confrontation with, but it was best to get on our way just the same.

"The cleaning lady is going to be in for a shock," I said while looking in the bathroom one more time to make sure we weren't leaving anything important behind. We tried to clean Edward's blood from the floor as best as possible, but there wasn't anything we could do about the stained tile grout and towels. "Maybe I should have bought some bleach."

"I doubt it's anything these people haven't seen here before," Edward grumbled. "Don't worry about it, we will be long gone before they notice anything."

I nodded, and then smiled as he leaned in to kiss me sweetly on the lips.

"Mmm," I purred, not wanting to pull away.

"Let's go," he whispered with one more quick kiss. He grabbed the backpack, took my hand, and we left that horrendous motel room for the last time.

We walked to the bus station, and boarded a bus to the closest airport. I was nervous as all hell as I showed the airport clerk our fake IDs, but thankfully, they didn't have any issues, and sold us our insanely expensive one-way tickets to Rio.

"Well, we're down to three hundred bucks," I said, after counting what was left of our money as we made our way through the security line. "I don't know how we are going to make it all the way to the island on such low funds. We will need to rent a boat or something, and food, and…"

"Wait, why do we need to rent a boat?" Edward asked confused.

"To get to the island," I replied slowly.

His confusion only doubled.

"Edward, you don't know what an island is, do you? I thought you said you read a book about Alcatraz?"

"I did."

"Alcatraz is an island."

"Yeah," he said, still not understanding.

"You don't remember the part where they swam to escape?"

"Yeah, I remember that, but I never really understood why they would need to do it."

"Because an island is a land mass, surrounded by _water_."

"Oh," he said, finally comprehending what I was telling him. "It's a good thing I like water now. Maybe we can swim to my father's island."

"Um, unless it's less than a hundred feet off the mainland, it'll be too far for me to swim."

"Well, I'm sure we'll think of something," he said unconcerned.

We made it through security, and found our way to our terminal. Thankfully, the waiting area wasn't too full, and we were able to take some seats in a sparsely populated area by our departure gate. We had an hour and a half before our plane was leaving, so we took that time to relax and continue the conversation we started in the security line.

"How will we even find this island anyway?" I wondered. "Clearly you have never been there since you didn't even know what an island is."

"My father made me memorize a map. We just need to find one, and I'll know where it is."

"You memorized a map, and yet, you still didn't realize it was surrounded by water? Water on maps are usually blue," I said, finding far more amusement on the subject than I should have.

He smiled innocently. "I was a kid the last time I saw it. I always thought it was blue sand."

I giggled. "Aww. I wish I got to know you when you were a kid. I bet you were the cutest thing ever."

"My sister used to call me a hideous little beast," he disagreed.

"What?" I spat with a mix of amusement and offense. There was no way that angelic looking man before me was ever hideous, and I kind of wanted to find his sister just so I could slap her for ever making him think otherwise.

Edward smirked, and then took my hand. I thought it was a simple display of affection, but what he was really doing was showing me a brief memory of that blonde woman I had seen in his dreams.

" _Come here, you hideous little beast. Let me comb your hair,"_ she said with love so strong in her eyes that I could actually feel it radiating off her through his memory.

I smiled as he pulled his hand away. "That was your sister?"

"Yeah. She always called me that. I guess it was something my dad had said while I was still growing inside my mother. He didn't know how I'd turn out, and he was worried. I guess he only said it once, and my sister never let him live it down."

"Why wouldn't he know how you'd turn out if they already had your sister?"

"Rosalie was born long before me, when my father was still human and married to his first wife."

"Oh, so she isn't a hybrid like you?"

"No. She was full human, like my father at the time. He became a vampire somehow while she was a child, and ended up going back to turn her once she reached maturity. I don't know all the details, but I know Rosalie resented him for it."

"Oh. Why would she resent him?"

"I don't know. My human captors weren't the only ones who didn't divulge information to me. My parents rarely told me anything either."

"Well, you were just a child the last time they saw you, perhaps they didn't think you'd understand the more mature aspects of certain things."

"Your father kept secrets from you. Does it make you happy?" he grumbled.

"No."

He nodded in agreement as a way to prove his point. We had both spent our youth being lied to by the people who were supposed to love us the most, and it certainly sucked.

"Edward, what's going to happen when we find your family?" I asked slowly. "You said I may not be safe." I then raised my shoulders. "Where will I go without you?"

"Without me?"

"You'll be with them, and I can't go home, so I'll be alone. I mean, I've never really minded being alone before, but considering everything we've just been through with the traffickers, I'm not sure…"

"Bella," he interrupted me gently. "Ever since the first time I saw you…" He paused, clearly not knowing the words for what he wanted to tell me. He reached up to cradle my face, and settled for showing me exactly what he needed me to know.

…

 _Renee Higginbotham Swan, so warm and beautiful, and so full of jovial optimism, brought her new baby girl to a place that was the exact opposite of herself. The dungeon was full of sadness and despair, but she knew her little ray of light would change all of that._

" _Edward, I want you to meet Isabella," she beamed with pride as she held the infant in a way so the hybrid could see the child in her arms through his cell bars._

 _The moment Edward saw the baby, he felt an overwhelming sense of warmth and serenity. It was peaceful, but also stronger than anything he had ever felt before – as if the entire universe spun in her eyes. He didn't understand it, but he knew he would absolutely do anything for her, and Rene somehow knew it too._

" _Remember how I told you I sometimes see things?" she asked Edward._

" _In your dreams?"_

 _She smiled. "Yes, exactly. I dreamed that someday, my little Bella will be yours."_

 _He furrowed his brows. "Mine?"_

" _Yes. You're going to save her life, and in return, she will save yours. I know it's hard to believe, or even understand, but someday it will all make sense. You'll leave here, and you'll take her with you…"_

" _You want me to take your baby?" Edward questioned with his confusion doubling._

 _Her smile faded slowly, but then suddenly returned twice as big. "I woke up after that dream feeling so happy, because I know you will always keep her safe. No matter what. You share a connection – one that can never be broken. She belongs to you, even more than she belongs to me and her father, and you belong to her, even more than you belong to your family. You will come to understand that, just wait and see…"_

…

"My mother had a weird premonition about us?" I questioned as the vision faded. Even with my mind re-focused on the present, I could still feel my mother's love from that vision. Her love, and also her sadness, as if she knew she didn't have much time with me herself. Could she really sense her own looming mortality? Did she somehow feel that she only had a few short years left.

"She used to say she was psychic," Edward told me softly. "Her dreams sometimes showed her the future, but it wasn't always clear. Most of her visions confused her, but apparently not the one she had of you and me. I think she was just happy to know I would always keep you safe."

"Always?" I questioned, realizing that I loved him even more than I thought possible.

"Always. I told you that before, and I'll keep telling you until you believe me. My place is with you, and it always has been. That's why I couldn't leave when I had the chance all those years ago. It wasn't even that I sensed you were in some kind of danger, I just couldn't leave you. So if you can't be around my family safely, then neither can I."

"You've waited so long to be reunited with them," I said, feeling guilty he would leave them for me.

"It doesn't matter. We are freeing them, and anything beyond that will be up to them. Maybe we will have to go away while they regain control of themselves, but we can always reconnect later. They lived amongst humans before, they can certainly do it again - _eventually_."

I nodded, feeling comforted by his words. "Edward, I think… no, I know, that even without realizing it, I've always missed you. My dad may have taken my memories of you, but I still felt you in my heart. I always had a longing, deep inside of me," I reached up and raked my fingers through his wild hair. "This is honestly the first time that I can remember not feeling an emptiness within me, which always seemed to be there before. It just makes me so upset that my dad took you away from me. To know he created the pain I've always endured, it just makes me feel so angry."

"Don't be angry," he murmured back to me. "Just be happy we're together now. That's who you are. You've always been this ray of light, even when it was hard to take."

"Why was it hard to take?"

"Because the world around me was so dark, it was hard to adjust to such a vastly different emotional climate. Your light was blinding, your laughter was deafening. Even at that carnival, you were just so jubilant, I felt like I was going to be completely consumed by it."

"Is that a bad thing?"

He sighed. "It is, when you feel like nothing could ever come from it. It was hard for me to think I could ever be happy when I've only ever experienced pain. Pain is easy, it's comfortable, and it's so much simpler than what I'm feeling now. I just don't think I could ever survive losing you."

"You won't ever lose me," I told him with as much conviction as I was capable of.

"This world is a shitty place," he disagreed.

"And we will get through whatever it throws at us," I replied confidently.

The look in his eyes was far less confident than I was feeling, but he nodded anyway, so I leaned in and kissed him hard.

We had only been on the road together for a couple of weeks. In truth, it had only been couple weeks since I even knew he existed, and yet, I loved him a lifetime's worth. It wasn't a new feeling, it had always been there, just below the surface of my mind, and filled my heart to the brim. We belonged together, something even my mother always knew, and my future, no matter what happened with his family, would always be with him. There were no ifs, no wait and sees, and no doubt about it. Our bond was irrevocable.

When our passion deepened that amazing kiss, I felt his hand reach for the button on my pants. God, I wanted him. My desire for him was more intense than ever before, and it was both physically and emotionally painful to force him to stop, but it absolutely had to stop.

"We can't do this here," I mumbled against his lips.

"Why?" he asked as his mouth traveled to my neck, sending a wave of aching desire straight to my core.

"Because we are in an airport, and people are starting to stare."

"I don't care if people stare."

I giggled, and as much as it pained me to do so, I pushed him back. "We can't have sex right here. Sex is only done in private."

"Why do they show it on TV then?" he questioned. "When they kiss with their clothes off, that's sex, right? I mean, they don't show the penis going in to the vagina, but that's what they're doing under the blankets, isn't it? I can go get a blanket. I think I saw one in that store over there."

God, it didn't even matter how wrong it was, I was so incredibly tempted to take him up on it. _Stupid human morals._ "No, unless it was porn, the actors on TV were only emulating sex. It's considered indecent to actually have sex in front of people."

"Why? Do most people not know what sex is?"

"Most people do know what it is, or at least most adults know, but they still don't want to see other people doing it."

"But they like to see it emulated on TV?"

I smiled, and then kissed him once more, quickly on the lips. "People are weird, huh."

"I've been saying that all along."

I giggled. "Come on." I grabbed his hand and pulled him up, but then I noticed his erection. "Whoops," I said, immediately curling into him in an attempt to hide it from people walking past.

"What's wrong?" he asked when I started giggling like an embarrassed schoolgirl.

"Your penis also doesn't understand social taboos," I said through my fits of laughter.

"Let me guess, people don't want to see big penises either?" he asked so casually that I nearly fell over from my hysterics. "Why are you crying?"

It took me a solid two minutes to calm myself down. "Let's go before we draw even more attention to ourselves," I managed to choke out. I pulled him to the bathrooms, where luckily there was one of those unisex single stall locking doors, and reached for the handle just as someone was opening it from the inside. The man exiting looked at both of us, clearly saw Edward's boner, and surprised us by smiling with a big thumbs up to Edward as he passed us. _Men_ – I shook my head at the thought.

Thankfully, the bathroom only stunk marginally, and we were quickly able to ignore it as I got right to work on Edward's little, I mean big problem. Of all our bodily explorations we previously did in the motel, I had yet to try him in my mouth. That was about to change.

"What are you doing?" he asked, probably having no idea oral even existed "Holy fuck," he grunted as my lips closed around him. It was an act that always grossed me out when my friends discussed it, but in doing it on Edward, I realized nothing about him could possibly gross me out. I yearned for every inch of him, and I would make damn sure I got it.

I wanted him to finish that way, but as the feeling escalated, he practically begged me to let him fuck me, and I wasn't about to deny him that, especially when my body was begging for it just as hard.

He lifted me up so my legs were around his waist, and then he took me against the wall, harder than he ever had before. As my climax exploded, every muscle in my body seized, and I may have even momentarily blacked out from just how intense it was. When my wits slowly returned to me, I realized we had sunk to the ground, so that my back was still against the wall, but I was sitting across his lap, and we were both feeling like we were hit with a freight train.

"Maybe… maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I don't think I can walk now," I said, still struggling to breathe.

"What the hell did you do to me, woman? Everything hurts worse than the aftermath of any fight I've ever been in."

I giggled. "Well, the last thing I want to do is cause you more pain."

"No," he said quickly. "No, no, it's good pain. I didn't even know there was a such thing as good pain, but this is it. Can we do it again?"

"Not right now. We need to make sure we don't miss our flight."

"Oh, right."

When neither of us moved, I rested my forehead to his. "Edward, tell me you love me."

"Why would I tell you that?" he asked unexpectedly.

"Because it's nice to hear, especially after something like this."

I already knew he loved me, but he had yet to say it. Words weren't really important, but right then I was almost craving to hear them, almost like someone would crave chocolate cake.

"I'm not going to tell your something that's not true," Edward said, making my heart drop. I knew he loved me, I didn't have a doubt, but apparently he didn't know it.

"Yes, you do. I feel that you do through your little mind and emotion sharing thingy."

Edward considered it for a moment, and shook his head. "Nope. Don't love you."

"Yes, you do. What your feeling right now is love."

"No, there is no word that I've ever heard that describes how I feel for you. Practically every TV show I've seen had people throwing around the word love, and what they were feeling, or even pretending to feel, is not this."

I understood what he meant, and agreed – our bond went well beyond all the fake fleeting love he watched on the screen, but he was also wrong. "Well, humans have no word bigger than love, so that's the one you'll have to use. Now tell me."

"But why do I have to say it to you if it's not accurate?"

"I told you why, it's just nice to hear."

"Must be a human thing."

"It is, but I am human, so please just humor me."

He looked down at me, and smirked. "I love you… Did I say it right?"

I smiled triumphantly. "Yes, thank you. Was it so hard?"

"A little. It feels unnatural lying to you like that."

"It's not exactly a lie. It's just a substitution for something that doesn't exist. Think of it as just one more lesson in acting human."

"I'm not just acting human, I _am_ human – at least half of me is."

"And you're becoming more and more human everyday," I said while rubbing his jaw stubble.

He leaned in to kiss me again, before forcing both of us into a standing position so we could get our pants back on. When we were fully dressed again, he reached for the door handle to open it, but I had something I needed to say to him first.

"Edward, you may not care to hear it, but I'm going to tell you anyway - I love you."

He raised a brow, and stared at me as if he was expecting me to react to my own declaration, and surprisingly, I did. "Wow, it does feel a little wrong to say."

"See?" he kissed my nose. "We totally don't love each other."

"You're right, and I won't ask you to say it again."

"Thanks. I won't say it again, because I really, really, don't love you," he said, more tenderly than any actor had ever delivered the line, _'I love you'_ , in any movie.

I smiled so wide that the corner of my lips felt like they were going to rip right through my cheeks. "I really, really, don't love you too."

We kissed once more, and then finally left the bathroom. On our way back to our seats, we stopped at the little store, and I picked out some snacks as Edward browsed the small selection of books. He brought three over to the register, and I paid for them without even looking at what they were. All of our stuff was bagged up, and then we brought it back to our gate to wait for boarding.

"What did you end up getting?" I asked, curiously.

"Just something to read during the flight. I got one for you too," he said, handing me a fictional novel entitled, ' _My Life with a Vampire_ '.

"Oh wow. Um, this should be very informative. Thank you," I said with a giggle.

"I got this mystery novel, but you can read it too."

"Cool, but what's that one?"

He smiled mischievously, and told me to pull it out to see for myself. When I did, I wasn't sure if I was terribly amused, or completely embarrassed.

" _Tantra for Dummies_?"

"It's a book about sex. I didn't even know there were so many ways to do it," he said excitedly, and far too loud for a public setting

Someone walked past us, so I quickly tried to shield the book so they couldn't glance down and see the title.

"How about we read this one when we get to our next hotel," I suggested, before putting it back into the bag.

"Is this one of those _needs to stay private_ things?"

"Pretty much."

"Then why do they sell them in these stores if it's private?"

"Like I said before, humans are weird."

"They certainly are," he agreed.

Suddenly, Edward's head shot to the left, making my stomach drop.

"What is it?" I asked, knowing something was wrong.

"I just heard your name," he said in a hushed tone.

"What?"

"I heard someone say Isabella Swan."

I shook my head in denial. "My ID says Arabella Masen. If there was an issue with the flight, they would call me by that name."

"No, I distinctively heard Isabella Swan."

He slowly stood, and because I was starting to freak out, I stood too, and grabbed ahold of his arm tightly. We walked a few yards, and then turned a corner, and that was when I came face to face with myself.

"Holy shit!" I cried, covering my hand with my mouth to keep my scream from escaping. There, on the huge TV monitor, was an image of me, with the headline - _**Missing and Endangered Minor**_. The subtitles to the news broadcast were streaming by quickly, but as far as I was able to read, it said I was kidnapped from my home by a deranged man who was armed and dangerous. There was even a five hundred thousand dollar reward.

A couple minutes later, my picture reduced in size, and was now sharing the screen with a very strange, almost fake looking, image of Edward.

"Is that supposed to be me?" Edward asked confused.

"I think so," I replied absently while staring at the screen.

"Why do they call you a minor?"

"It means I'm under eighteen years old."

"Why does that matter?"

"Because I'm still considered a child until I'm eighteen."

"So, on your birthday, you magically become an adult?"

"According to our law."

"That's stupid."

"Yeah," I agreed, but we had more important things to worry about right then. "Edward, this isn't good. Someone is going to see us."

We both looked around at the people in our immediate area, and I was shocked and relieved to see that there wasn't a single person that seemed to be paying attention to the TV monitor. Everyone was completely absorbed in their own personal electronic devices, and there appeared to be no interaction between anyone. Even parents with their children all had their noses in their screens, like a bunch of mindless robots. It was sad, really, but definitely to our benefit.

"Let's go sit down and keep a low profile until our plane leaves," I told Edward. I turned to lead us back, but he was still staring at his own image on the screen.

"Do I really look like that? I'm terrifying. I never realized just how scary, and monster-like, I am. That's awesome!"

I huffed. "You don't look like that right now," I teased while clawing at his scruff. "That image is definitely enhanced to make you look scarier."

"I think this is my monster card image. They altered the colors a little, probably in an attempt to make me look more human."

"Monster card image?"

"Yeah, in the tournament programs, they sometimes use an image next to the names. It's the only picture I've ever had taken of me. It has to be a few decades old."

"That's so going to get us in trouble if we keep standing here gawking at it," I said in a rush while pulling at his sleeve. "Let's go sit and keep our heads down."

"Five hundred thousand? That's all we're worth?" Edward grumbled as we made our way back to our seats. "I thought it would be at least a couple million. I mean, your dad is probably freaking out by now."

"My dad probably thinks I'm dead, and that reward is for any information someone may have on you," I told him.

"Nah, your dad knows I wouldn't kill you. Your mom used to tell him all the time."

I shook my head in disagreement. "My dad feared you. He told me in his office that you were particularly dangerous. Even more than other vampires."

Edward scowled. "I wonder why he would say that? He knew your mom let you in my cell. He never liked it, but he wasn't worried enough to stop her either."

"There's still so much about my dad that I don't understand," I sighed, "and I guess I never will since I'll never see him again."

"Bella, it's okay to miss your father," he told me gently. "He was your only parent for a long time. I'm sure you have plenty of fond memories with him."

I bit my lower lip, and nodded. "I do, but it's the memories I don't have that make so angry with him. I'll always love my dad, but I'm so grateful to be here with you right now, and not back there with him, living a lie."

"Not loving me is way better than loving him," Edward agreed with an absent nod.

I giggled. "Exactly. Not loving you is way better than loving anyone."

"See? It's a good thing I kidnapped you then."

"Best thing that ever happened to me."

Edward kissed me again, and we basically just made-out until our plane began boarding. I probably would have pulled away sooner in fear of annoyed onlookers, but kissing definitely had the advantage of partially concealing our faces, and with our missing persons' report on TV, concealing our faces was of the utmost importance.

Once we found our seats on the plane, we held hands, and I just about held my breath until we were safe in the sky. Once we were out of the United States air space, I knew we were safe – at least from pesky humans looking for a reward. Of course, Brazil would hold its own challenges and dangers, but I was still excited to face them. Edward would protect me, and I would protect him. I didn't have a doubt…


	16. Castles of Sand

**Chapter 16 – Castles of Sand**

It was a long flight, and I was on edge the entire time, so I was beyond relieved when we finally landed without incident, but I still felt the need to somehow release all that tension.

"We need to find somewhere to have sex, like right now," I practically demanded.

Edward smirked and shook his head, but he wasn't about to deny me. We found another private bathroom, and I was able to take out all that stress on him, and he couldn't have been happier about it.

When we were finished, we made our way to the little airport souvenir shop, and bought a map.

"You don't see the island?" I questioned, full of concern, as Edward scanned it and seemed lost.

"Everything is different. I don't know what any of these symbols are."

"It's been over fifty years, right?"

"More like eighty," he replied absently. "None of this looks familiar."

"We should just make our way to the coast. Maybe there will be some older maps near the harbor somewhere."

"Wait, I do recognize this," he said, tracing the coast line with his finger. "The island should be around here somewhere… but it's not. I don't understand why it's not here."

"Let's go to the harbor," I said again. "I'm sure we can figure it out."

We made our way to the airport exit, but I was surprised, and a little disheartened, to see it was close to dark out. Even if we found the island on a map, it was probably best to wait until morning to set out over the ocean to an island we knew nothing about. But waiting the night meant spending more money, and in a touristy area like Rio, I worried a hotel room could be expensive.

"We need to flag down a taxi and ask him to take us to the cheapest motel in the area," I suggested.

It took a good fifteen minutes to get anyone to stop for us, and when someone finally did, the driver spoke very little English. Thankfully, he understood enough, and began driving us across town to what I hoped was the cheap motel we had requested. However, once we got away from the airport, and into the heart of the city, we were met with a roadblock – _literally_.

"What is all of this?" I asked the driver as he put the car into park. We were in a gridlock of traffic, so we clearly weren't moving any time soon.

"Carnival," he replied, pointing to the large mass of people partying in the street in front of us.

"Oi," Edward unexpectedly said to the driver. He leaned forward and began speaking a mile a minute in what I could only assume was Portuguese. I could do nothing but stare at him in shock.

The driver responded to whatever Edward had said to him, and appeared to be giving him directions as he made hand gestures towards the street.

 _"_ _Muito obrigado_ _,"_ Edward then told him, before unbuckling his seatbelt, and exiting the vehicle.

I sat there for a minute, completely dumbfounded, until Edward walked around the car and opened my door for me. "Come on, we need to walk."

"Oh, okay." I dug some money out of my bag to pay the driver for the distance he brought us, and then took Edward's hand as I got out.

"It's only a few blocks from here," Edward told me as I looked around at the mass of people.

"How do you know Portuguese?" I asked him, suddenly hit with the surrealistic reality that I was actually in Rio de Janeiro. I had hardly ever been out of my home town before, so to be in a different country _,_ hell, just being out of Washington was an extreme that I was only then just beginning to truly process. I suppose everything about my life since I met Edward was an extreme, and I was beyond excited for whatever adventure was in store for us next.

"My dad taught me Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, Greek, Japanese, Punjabi, Hindi, Mandarin, Arabic, Swahili, and Hebrew," Edward told me casually.

My mouth fell agape. "You were taught all of those languages when you were just a child?"

He shrugged with a nod. "We traveled a lot, and my parents had no idea where we would end up, so they wanted me to be prepared. Of course, my mother was learning with me, since she only knew English before being turned, but it came pretty easy to us both. We would also buy translation books to study, and whatnot."

When I continued to just stare at him dumbfounded, he smirked and kissed me quickly on the forehead. "It's not that big of a deal, vampire minds just absorb easier. I'm not fluent, or anything, I only know enough to get by."

"I haven't even mastered English yet," I said honestly, feeling somewhat down about myself. But the feeling only lasted a minute, because as we walked through the crowd, I diverted all my focus onto our conjoined hands so I could concentrate on what Edward was feeling.

It had to be the largest group of humans he had ever encountered, and I knew it was nerve-wracking for him. However, every single person we passed seemed to be in high spirits, which was definitely a new experience for Edward. Through his touch, I could feel the accumulative joy around us, and as we walked, that exuberant atmosphere had a positive effect on him. He relaxed, and I could almost feel his smile, even if his lips never twitched. He was happy, and if for no other reason than that, I was happy too.

The music was loud, people were dancing in the street, and strangers were treated like extended family. Without even intending to do so, Edward and I found ourselves dancing right along with them as we made our way through the crowd. We were consumed by the positive energy, and we couldn't help but stop and enjoy the feeling, even if only for a few minutes. It truly felt like we found ourselves in some celebratory movie scene. We danced, and kissed, and just held each other as we watched the festivities. If only that feeling could last forever.

"There were more than just humans in that crowd," Edward told me when we finally made it to the privacy of our newest cheap hotel room for the night.

"What do you mean?" I asked unsure.

"I could smell other creatures. At least three different vampire scents, and something else as well – some kind of local monster." He shrugged. "It's nice. All these different species coexisting peacefully together."

"I'm sure Rio has it's fair share of crime as well," I told him, knowing there was suffering in all parts of the world.

"Yes, of course there is crime, and bad people, and the monsters still must hide most of the time, but it's like they put all that on hold for this celebration. The monsters walk around without fear, and people are just happy. It's incredible."

"It is incredible. Do you want to go back out? I'm sure there will probably be dancing most of the night."

"No. Believe it or not, I'm pretty tired."

I raised my brows at him. "All this positivity is wearing on you, huh?"

"I don't know, maybe. It's like my entire body has always been tense from feeling all of the pain and suffering around me constantly, and suddenly it's all gone and my muscles have relaxed for the first time. I just feel drained."

I nodded. "Well, let's go to bed then," I told him softly. We took off our dirty clothes, and climbed into the bleach smelling sheets. I was fully expecting to make _-not-_ love before going to sleep, but Edward was out before I even had a chance to get comfortable. At first I thought he was faking it for some reason, but after gently pacing my hand on his cheek, I could immediately tell he was really asleep. His mind was at peace, and I found myself feeling overwhelmingly grateful. He needed that rest more than anyone had ever needed rest before.

For the first time since I had known him, Edward slept the entire night, and when he finally woke up late the next morning, he looked so fresh-faced and somehow even more beautiful than before. He truly took my breath away.

But because he slept so long, and we were racing against our dwindling finances, we didn't want to get swept away with each other right then, so we put off having sex again, and opted for just hurrying to get ourselves together to go find our way to that island.

We weren't far from a harbor, so we walked, and it didn't take long until the vast ocean appeared right before our eyes.

Edward stopped mid-step to take it all in.

"Wow, that is incredible," I said in awe. I had seen the ocean many times, but Washington's coastline looked so vastly different than that. The vivid colors of the Rio shore, and the warm sweetness to the air - it looked more like a dream than real life.

Edward took in a deep breath. "I had briefly seen the ocean before in my childhood travels, but this just seems…" He let his words trail off.

"It's beautiful," I finished for him, knowing the word wasn't quite descriptive enough, but it would have to do.

He nodded, and then we continued towards it. Once we found our way to the harbor, we were lucky to find a small boat rental company, so we entered the little store where the rental booth was located, and began browsing the shelf of maps.

"What's wrong?" I asked Edward when he suddenly froze.

"I just got a whiff of vampire," he mumbled, almost incoherently.

My eyes grew large, and I quickly looked around the store. There were three or four people looking through the various aisles of snacks, and a man behind the checkout desk, but no one looked out of the ordinary or inhuman.

"I can barely smell it. Like maybe one was here a few days ago," he added.

"Maybe we should follow its trail. Maybe this vampire would help us," I suggested.

"We can't trust random vampires," Edward told me in a hushed tone. "They could be hostile, or…"

"Olá. Is there something I can help you with," the clerk suddenly questioned us, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. He had approached so quietly that I was startled and jumped, but Edward straight hissed at him like a cat.

"Whoa," I tried calming him with my hand on his chest.

Edward didn't respond to me, he just stared down the tall, dark haired, man with the most vicious death glare I had ever seen on his face before.

"Uh, we need to rent a boat," I said, trying to divert the clerk's attention from the hybrid that clearly looked like he wanted to kill him.

"Certainly," the clerk replied, courteously. "How long will you have the sea craft?"

"Um, I'm not sure. Maybe a day, maybe a week."

He nodded. "That's perfectly fine. I'll just need a copy of your licenses and passports, and a deposit. When you return the boat, you will be responsible to pay for the amount of days it was in your possession."

"That's perfect. Do you happen to take American money? We haven't had a chance to convert it yet."

"That's fine. One hundred down, and fifty a day."

I nodded. "That sounds fair. Thank you."

I filled out all the necessary paperwork, paid the man our deposit, and then spent the rest of our remaining money on a coastal map and snacks to take with us. Edward was confident the treasure would be there, so I was counting on it in order to be able to pay our balance when we returned the boat. If the treasure wasn't there, we were pretty much screwed any way you looked at it, so I had to believe it was there as well.

The man stared down the silent hybrid besides me as he went over the instructions for the boat, and even I could feel the tension between them. I wanted to touch Edward's hand to get a hint of what his issue was, but I knew it was probably best to get out of there as quickly as possible.

As soon as we were out of hearing range of the clerk, while I was attempting to drive the boat away from the dock, I turned to question Edward. "What was that all about?"

"He's a vampire," Edward replied, taking me aback.

"A vampire?" I spat. "The clerk? Like a real vampire? How is he working like that? I would have thought vampires would stick to the shadows and try to stay inconspicuous."

"By working there he _is_ being inconspicuous," Edward told me. "My father used to hold a human job at one time as well."

"Well, was the vampire a threat to us, or something? If him working there wasn't a big deal, why were you so tense?"

"I didn't smell him. I mean, I smelled vampire, it just wasn't strong enough for him to still be there like that. I don't understand how he managed to mask his scent."

"Maybe he didn't; maybe you just couldn't smell it as strongly since you're becoming more and more human," I pointed out.

"I suppose that could be. Either way, having him approach us so easily definitely took me off guard. I hate not having my full senses. Now I'm all on edge," he said while attempting to shake away his willies.

I giggled. "Well, let's just be grateful that he seemed to mean us no harm. Now, let's figure out where this island is. I really want to get this little speedboat on the open water to test my ocean driving skills."

"Are you sure you can drive a boat?" Edward asked warily. "I may have dulled senses than what I'm used to, but they are still certainly better than the normal human senses and reflexes you have."

"Hey, I resent that! I happen to be a great boat driver. My dad used to always let me drive our fishing boat, and he taught me well. All I need you to do, is take that map and figure out where we are going."

He smirked. "Alright, alright." But when he looked at the map, he just became frustrated. "It should be right here!" he shouted, while pointing at a particular spot in the middle of the blue area of the map. "Why isn't it here?"

"Can you show me your memory of your father's map?" I asked, holding my hand out to him.

He huffed, but then reached for my hand. Sure enough, in Edward's crystal clear recollection, I could hear the warm voice I was beginning to recognize as his father's, pointing at a small island on a map, in the exact location our current map showed nothing.

"I'm just going to drive there. Maybe it's so small the newer maps don't show it."

It took about an hour, going full speed, to get to the coordinates on the map. I was beginning to question my navigation skills, when suddenly we spotted it.

"There! That has to be it," Edward said excitedly. As we pulled in closer to the small island beach, however, I had my doubts.

"Are you sure about this, Edward? That sure looks like a private, multimillion dollar, house right there. If we go onto the island, and it belongs to some movie star or something, we could be arrested for trespassing, and that could end up really bad for us."

The island certainly looked more like a rich person's lavish vacation retreat, than the deserted pirate island I was imagining, but Edward only became more certain the closer we got.

"Nope, this is it. Pull the boat up to the dock there, and I'll jump out and tie it off."

Once the boat was secure, we got off and walked towards the house. I wasn't exactly convinced, so I grabbed his hand and let his confidence comfort me as we approached. As big and beautiful as the house was, it did look somewhat abandoned. The porch was covered in several layers of thick dirt, and there were fallen branches littered about. The mess was comforting, and I found myself relaxing a bit. We were definitely alone on that island, and I was grateful.

"Is there a hidden key somewhere?" I asked as we stopped in front of the door.

"Nah, I doubt it's locked," Edward replied. He reached for the knob, and sure enough, it opened easily. _At least we weren't breaking and entering_.

"Wow," I said as we stepped into the foyer. The grand entryway was stunning, and despite being built almost a hundred years prior, it didn't give off the feeling of being old or drafty. There was a thin layer of dust on the white linens covering the furniture, and some cobwebs in the vaulted ceiling corners, but it was far cleaner than I figured it would have been from being abandoned for so long. "This is beautiful."

"My sister probably designed it," he said absently as he began pulling the fabric off the couches. "I can smell them here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, my father and sister lived here for a while, several years before I was born. I think they came here to hide from the creature hunters."

"What made them leave? It seems like it would have been a safe place for them."

"I'm sure it was, but I think my sister was lonely."

I nodded. "I suppose only having a parent as a companion would get lonely. Was your mother not here with them?"

"No, they left before they met her. After I was born, they talked about returning here a few times, but we never made it; we just kept traveling until we were captured."

"That's too bad. You all would have avoided so much pain if you came back here."

"I'm glad we didn't."

"Why?"

"If I spent my life hiding out here, I would have never found you."

"But you would have never been hurt either."

"I'd endure every moment of all that pain over, and over, and over again, for eternity, just to spend one moment with you. I went willingly back to my cage after having freedom in front of me, just so I could stay close to you – to hear your heartbeat through the pipes at night. These days I've spent with you since escaping Washington, have been so much more incredible than I ever could have hoped they'd be, and I wouldn't trade this time we've had for anything."

I smiled, and then closed the distance between us so I could wrap my arms around him and kiss his lips. "I wouldn't trade this time for anything either. I _don't_ love you so much."

He smiled against my mouth. "I don't love you so much too."

I giggled as he peppered my face with quick kisses, and when I was covered in just the right amount of Edward spit, we linked our fingers together, and continued our exploration of the house.

"I don't see any lights, or even switches anywhere," I realized as we walked from room to room.

"Vampires don't need lights to see at night, so they probably just didn't add any when they designed this place. Besides, I doubt electricity was prevalent in homes for decades – not since before the revolution. This house was likely built during that time period."

"Wait, there was electricity _before_ the revolution?"

"Of course. I wasn't around back then, but from what Emmett briefly described to me, the world probably wasn't much different than it is now. When the vampires took over, they wiped everything out, so after the revolution, humans had to basically start from scratch."

"It's funny they leave those little important details out of our history books."

"It's like you always say, humans are weird."

"Totally," I agreed. "I guess it does make sense, in a way. Your dad and sister were here alone, so they would have no need for human conveniences. I bet they never even considered the possibility of a human being here one day, needing lights."

"Well, you don't _need_ lights. Humans existed long before electricity was invented."

"I know," I said with a sigh as I looked at our surroundings. "I'm surprised there is even a kitchen in here. If your sister designed it with no intention of ever selling it to a human, why would she want to build a kitchen they'd never use?"

He shrugged. "Maybe she just liked the look of them. Rosalie loved everything about the ever-changing human culture. She may have never cooked in here, but I wouldn't be surprised if she sometimes pretended."

"Oh. Well, it's a shame none of it actually works," I said while turning the knobs on the old stove with no prevail. "I guess we'll have to live here like a couple castaways… just with better shelter."

"Hopefully we won't be here too long. As soon as we find the treasure, we can be on our way."

"You really have no idea where it could be on this island? I mean, it's not a huge island, by any means, but if we have to dig a bunch of random holes we could definitely be here a while."

"All my father told me was that it was here. He didn't say where here exactly."

"At least we should be safe from any creature hunters or devious humans. We will need to figure out food though. I'm already hungry, and I'm not sure how long these snacks will sustain us."

"Don't humans eat fish?"

"Yes, why?"

"Don't fish live in water? This island is surrounded by water. We just need to go catch some fish to eat."

"Catch fish with what? Humans aren't so good at ocean fishing with our bare hands."

"I'm sure we can figure it out. I'm not going to let you starve, Bella. If it comes down to it, I'll drive the boat back to the mainland and get us some food."

"Except we are completely out of money," I reminded him.

"I'll get us some food, one way or another. Hopefully it won't come down to that anyway. We may not find the treasure today, but I'm sure we will find it by tomorrow."

I wasn't so optimistic, but as we continued to look through the house, I was both somewhat relieved, and confused, to find fishing gear in one of the closets.

"I do remember my father saying he liked to fish. It was calming to him," Edward explained. "He always told me he'd take me fishing one day when everything settled down – things just never settled down."

"Maybe after we free him, you'll finally get that chance," I told him encouragingly.

"Maybe," he said with a nod. "Or my fucking girl can teach me. You said you used to go with your father, right?"

I laughed once. "Did you just call me your _fucking girl_?"

"Uh… yes. You're my girl that I fuck. Is that the wrong use of the word?" he asked unsure.

My laughter exploded out of me from deep inside my belly, and even though he clearly didn't understand why I thought it was so funny, he smiled at my hysterics.

"How about you just call me your girlfriend, and leave the _fucking_ part out of it," I told him through my laughter.

"Girlfriend? I cherish you much more than a _friend_ ," he argued.

"It's like the word _love_ , it doesn't matter if it doesn't accurately describe the feeling, it's the best we have."

Edward grimaced, so I kissed away his sour expression until he was on the verge of giggling with me.

When I finally managed to regain control of myself, I quenched my hunger with some of the chips we brought, and then we went outside to start looking for some kind of clue as to where the treasure could be.

I tried to take the whole thing seriously, really I did, but after trekking through the center of the island, and falsely believing several random natural X's were there to mark the spot of the treasure, I needed a break.

The sun was lowering in the sky, so we decided to get set up in the house for the night. There were no actual beds in any of the rooms, but we did find pillows and blankets, so at least there was that. We took all the cushions off the couch, and made ourselves a comfy sleeping area on the floor. It wasn't quite time to turn in just yet, and I was still hungry, so we grabbed the fishing rods, and went back outside to drop in our lines.

We sat on the edge of the little boat dock, and I attempted to teach Edward how to fish. He was slightly frustrated at first, but it was amazing to me just how calm he was able to become. I would have never believed that vicious creature I saw fighting in that tournament ring, could ever be so gentle and serene, but that is exactly how Edward was becoming. He was the most beautiful when he was at peace, and once again, I found myself grateful for that time there with him.

We must have sat there for over an hour without so much of a nibble, but just as we were about to give up, Edward got a bite. I helped him reel it in, and together we pulled up a beautiful fish, just big enough to share. I cleaned it as Edward built a small fire on the beach, and we roasted it right there under the big beautiful awe-inspiring sky.

"Regardless of how long we might be here, this could never get old," I said as we lounged on the beach with our meal, and watched the sun set into an array of brilliant colors.

"I have to admit, seeing the water break over the shore is definitely less torturous than I ever thought it could be. Except for this stuff. This stuff is horrible," he said while brushing the sand off of his legs.

"Sand isn't so bad. It exfoliates, and it's fun to play in. When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was build sandcastles on the beach."

"Sandcastles?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's make one," I said, far more excited for the childish activity than I probably should have been. Playing in dirt, and building castles of sand, were staples in my childhood, and clearly something Edward had missed. I honestly couldn't wait to give him that experience, which all kids should have, and to see what we could build together.

Edward didn't look thrilled about the idea of playing in the sand, but because he didn't love me so much, he humored me.

We sat in the moist part of the beach, and got to work. I made a large mound and tried to square off the top, and at the same time, directed Edward to build the moat. "All vampire castles need moats," I told him.

"And coffins, apparently," Edward added. "Why do all vampire books and movies claim vampires sleep in coffins? How does that even make sense?"

"Humans and their overactive imaginations," I said with a giggle. "In the minds of humans, vampires are either terrifyingly ugly, or sexy as all hell and sparkle in the sun."

"Sparkle in the sun? Why?"

"Why not?" I said while climbing onto his lap and knotting my hands in the back of his hair. "Is it wrong of me to say I really enjoyed our time here today?"

"Why would that be wrong?"

"Because we are here to find a way to free your family, and I've spent most of the time laughing."

His hands dove under my shirt to rub their way up the skin on my back. "Your laugh is the best sound in the world," he murmured tenderly. "This has been a really good day…the _best_ day. No residual fear and suffering from people around us; all there is on this island is you. You, and your joyous laughter. I can't imagine anything more perfect."

Every word he spoke, was emphasized by the emotions he was emulating through our touch. He was serenely happy, and for the first time, it was completely untainted by any surrounding torment. We were in a world of our own, and all that existed in our world was our version of love – or _not_ love, in our case.

The sky wasn't yet fully dark, but the moon was shining bright overhead. Looking at Edward in that light had to be the most stunningly beautiful sight I had ever seen. I felt like I was going to burst out of my skin from the pure euphoria I was experiencing, and as I leaned in to kiss him, that feeling only escalated.

The need I had for him grew stronger than ever before, and I wanted nothing more than to fulfill that desire right there on the beach. Not even the most perfect scene, from the most epic romance movie, could compare to that incredible feeling. It was so intense that I was almost able to overlook the discomfort of the sand as it got absolutely everywhere – _almost_.

Edward must have heard my discomfort through my thoughts, because the next thing I knew, he had whisked me into his arms, bridal style, and rushed us back to our makeshift bed in the house.

Without the annoyance of the sand getting in the way, we were able to truly lose ourselves in our own personal piece of nirvana. There were no troubles, no thoughts of the coming hardships or struggles. He was able to put aside all his past pain and fear for his family, and I was able to forget my past of stolen memories and my father's betrayal. We simply didn't have room for concern, or fear, or lingering old resentments. In those precious moments, the only thing that existed was the feeling of his skin on mine, and that was all that mattered. He was my entire universe, and I was his, and regardless of anything else, we would always take that feeling with us for the rest of forever.

It was a daze of beautiful intense sensation that I felt in every fiber of my being, however as his body began thrusting harder into mine, suddenly there was an abrupt shift between us that I couldn't quite describe. That blissful feeling morphed into something new, something almost raw and animalistic, and then there was pain…

I gasped as I felt his teeth break through the skin on my neck, and then everything went dark…

...


	17. Mates

**Chapter 17 – Mates**

Everything was murky. It was as if I had been swallowed by a thick sludge that devoured every inch of my body and refused to free me. My limbs felt like they weighed five hundred pounds each, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't force my eyes open.

I had no sense of time or space, so I could have been trapped in that altered state for minutes, or even days, and I wouldn't have been able tell the difference. I couldn't recall what happened, or how I got like that; I couldn't even remember my own name.

Very slowly, little by little, the weight on my limbs waned, and eventually, I was able to open my eyes again. At first I didn't even attempt to move. My eyes just wandered as far as my stiffened neck would allow, but then I finally felt my strength return to me, and I was able to sit up. It took several more long moments to realize where I was, and then it happened – I remembered that sudden sharp pain to my neck.

My hand reflexively shot to that spot between my throat and collarbone, which now felt cold, as if it was layered with topical icy menthol cream. There was a definite raised line where the coolness was, and as I traced it with my finger, it became clear that the line was in the shape of teeth. Without a doubt, Edward bit me, I just didn't understand why or what that meant.

"Edward?" I called out to him, but as my motor-functions returned, I was able to look around the room, and I realized he was nowhere to be seen. "Edward!" I called louder, hoping he'd hear and come back from wherever he went.

I waited there for several minutes, but when he didn't show, I figured I needed to go find him, but even before that, I needed to determine if there was anything different about me.

In all the human versions of vampires I had read about, or seen on screen, if a vampire bite didn't kill you, you became a vampire. Without any other clue as to what was true, I stood up, and tried to come to my own conclusions.

"Well, I'm not dead," I said as held out my hands and watched my fingers stretch and then constrict. "At least I don't think I'm dead," I added, realizing I had no idea what being dead felt like so I couldn't accurately make that assessment. "Maybe I'm a vampire now," I suggested to myself. Figuring vampires were super strong, I attempted to lift the couch beside me, but it just strained my bicep, so I quickly gave up. "Maybe my vamp abilities will just take time to kick in."

I wasn't any stronger than I was before, which was slightly disappointing, but I wasn't fully convinced I wasn't a vampire just yet. Either way, I needed to find Edward.

I looked all throughout the house, and couldn't find any trace of him, so I went outside. "Edward?" I called yet again. The boat was still tied to the dock, so he had to be on the island somewhere. "Edward?"

I circled the perimeter of the house as well, calling him repeatedly as I went, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I then decided to search through the small forest in the center of the island, and as I went, I kept jumping over the fallen branches and shrubbery, hoping some of my vampire traits would begin to emerge.

"Shit!" I cried out when my foot got caught on a root and I fell to the ground, skinning my knee when I landed. "I must be the worst vampire of all time."

I struggled to stand back up, and I had to limp my way to the beach. By the time I made it out of the cover of the trees, the good leg I had been hobbling on was now sore, so I plopped down in the sand and had to fight off my unwanted tears.

 _Edward wouldn't abandon me here. He just wouldn't._

I had no idea what really happened the night before, but it didn't matter. Edward's emotions for me were stronger than anything and everything. I had felt it from him, and through him, even clearer than I felt my own emotions. Edward more than loved me, he lived for me, and I knew he would never, could never, leave me for good. Wherever he went, whatever he was doing, he would be back. I didn't have a doubt.

But as the hours passed, and he didn't show, I'd be lying if I said my confidence never faltered. I sincerely didn't believe he'd leave me for good, but I also would have never believed he would bite me like that, so I was left questioning everything.

Something made my eyes wander to the stretch where our sandcastle had been built just the evening before, but now there was nothing left except flat sand. The tide had come in and demolished it, and I was left contemplating how fragile our castle was. In retrospect, we should have built it further back to avoid the waves, but at the time, I thought it was best to make good use of the moist sand. I wasn't thinking about the longevity of the castle or the logistics of making it secure. It had been built carelessly and haphazardly, allowing it to be destroyed so easily. What if my relationship with Edward was just as fragile? It was beautiful, but perhaps it all just happened a little too quickly. Sadness enveloped me with these thoughts.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice the incoming boat until it was pulling up to the dock. It wasn't a big boat, by any means, but it appeared to be the enclosed houseboat type, so I couldn't see who was on board or even driving it. Because of its small size, I figured it wasn't the creature hunters, and it wasn't an official looking type of sea-craft, so I didn't fear it was law enforcement, so I was baffled.

 _Who the hell was coming onto our island?_

I probably should have tried to hide somewhere, or at least hurry back into the house to look for a weapon of some sort to protect myself, but for whatever reason, I just sat there with my ass in the sand.

The early afternoon sun was shining directly in my eyes, so even when someone stepped off the boat, I couldn't really make out their face until they were walking up the dock towards me. The moment my eyes were able to squint through the light enough to see the person, I gasped.

"What do you want?" I asked as aggressively as I was capable of in my sudden panicked state. "My boyfriend is just inside," I lied, hoping he wouldn't attack me if he thought I wasn't alone.

The tall man, who I recognized as the boat rental clerk, was definitely a vampire. I didn't need Edward's super-human nose and vamp senses to tell me that. Whatever false pretenses he used to make himself seem more human back at the harbor, must have been left on the mainland, because he was currently making no attempt to disguise his true identity. He simply stared at me eerily, like some living stature, which quickly morphed from frightening to irritating.

"What do you want?" I asked him again. "Why are you here?"

The vampire stared for several more beats, before turning his head, ever so slightly, to seemingly sniff the air. "The boy that was with you. What is he?" he questioned in his Portuguese accented English.

"My boyfriend? He's nothing, but he is inside using the bathroom. He should be out any minute," I lied again, probably unconvincingly.

"Your _boyfriend_ is not _nothing_ ," he retorted. "His smell is unique, but also familiar."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How did you find us? We never told you where we were going."

"All of my boats have tracking devices," he replied casually. "Of course, given the boy's scent, I had a feeling you would be heading in this direction."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned, unsure.

"He smells similar to someone I know. Carlisle Cullen," he said, taking me aback. "Does that name mean anything to you?"

"You know Carlisle?"

His head cocked to the side. "Yes, and apparently you do too. I have never smelled two distinct scents so similar before. Every creature has a unique smell, but that boy, your _boyfriend_ , smelled like Carlisle…mixed with something else. I'm sure you must know what Carlisle is, so why does the boy smell almost human?"

"Um…" I still had no idea who the vampire was to Edward's father, so I was leery of giving him any information, but despite his mysteriousness, and his monstrous deadly nature, I was strangely unafraid. Somehow, I just knew this vampire meant us no harm. "Who are you?"

"May we go inside?" he asked gently.

It may have been stupid of me, but I found myself agreeing, and even leading the way. I was so unconcerned about my safety, that I even turned my back on him as we entered the house.

"I apologize for the webs," the vampire said strangely. I turned to him, and followed his line of sight to the vaulted ceiling. "I admit, I haven't been here to clean in a over a year."

I raised my brows. "You come here to clean? Why?"

"I lived here for some time; I only moved to the mainland a few years ago to work."

"You lived here after Carlisle and Rosalie left?"

"Yes, and I lived here with them as well."

"You lived with them? Were you like, part of their coven, or something?"

The vampire seemed to ignore my question as he looked around the room. Then his gaze returned to me. "I apologize, but where is the boy? The one who smells like Carlisle."

"Edward? He's- uh, I'm not sure," I admitted reluctantly. "He left last night, and I don't know where he went."

"His name is Edward?"

"Yes," I said, wondering if I shouldn't have told him that. "You never told me your name."

"You never told me yours either," he countered.

"You took my ID when we rented the boat," I reminded him.

"Is Arabella your real name?"

"You can call me Bella," I said, neither denying or confirming it. "And you are?"

"My name is Eleazar," he replied while reaching his hand out towards me. When I gave him my hand to shake, he smiled kindly. "Now that we have been properly introduced, can you please tell me what you two are doing here, and how you are associated with Carlisle."

"Sure, but first, how about you tell me what _your_ association is with him. I mean, you came here, the least you can do is explain yourself before asking questions."

"Carlisle first came here a great many years ago. He, and his daughter, Rosalie, were running from the creature hunters. His instincts brought him here to me, and they proved him well. They were safe here for a long time."

"And you lived here with them? Was it a coven situation?"

"Carlisle and I would spend many long nights on that back porch, talking about the world, and our ideals of how it could be. Those nights would stretch far beyond the rising sun, and would continue through multiple rotations of the earth. We would still be here together if Rosalie hadn't asked him to accompany her back to the states. But I do fully expect him to return to me someday, which is why I try to keep this place clean. I have been busy lately though. That last storm really caused a mess. I will need to take more time here tidying up; Carlisle likes things a certain way, and I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate this current disarray."

"The way you talk about Carlisle, it almost sounds like you're in love with him," I said brazenly. "I'm sorry, that's none of my business."

"No, your assumption isn't completely wrong. Love is a human emotion, but it is probably the closest description of our connection that you can understand. Carlisle is my mate," he said unexpectedly.

"Your mate?" I repeated, dumbfounded. "But… he has a wife, and…"

"Rosalie's mother died many years ago, but they parted ways even long before that. She could not accept his vampirism."

"Okay, but he has a wife currently as well."

"A wife currently? As in, he remarried?" he scoffed. "That's ridiculous."

"It's ridiculous because Carlisle and you are mates?" I asked, still confused about the entire thing.

"Precisely."

"Look, I don't know anything about any of that. All I know, is that Carlisle is married, and she isn't his first wife, so maybe he's bisexual or something. Not really my business, and I'm certainly not here to cause issues between you and him."

"My dear, you're confused. The mating bond is not sexual, it is so much deeper than that. Romance and the human version of love is shallow. It's a chemical reaction in the mind and is strictly a physical trait. Humans are slaves to their hormones and sexuality; it influences and drives everything they do. Vampires, and our emotions, are so much deeper and stronger than that."

"So…you and Carlisle, as mates, never had sex?" I asked, but winced at my words. None of it was my business, and I hated sticking my nose in where it didn't belong, but I was curious, and confused, and I seemed to have trouble keeping my mouth shut.

Lucky for me, embarrassment on the topic was only mine. Eleazar acted as if it was no different than any other casual conversation. "No, my relationship with Carlisle was never what humans define as romantic. However, I know doubtlessly that Carlisle would have told me if he were to form a romance with someone new while away on his travels. We kept in constant contact through letters."

"If the mating bond isn't romantic, then what exactly is it?"

"Humans can't possibly comprehend any traits of vampirism."

"How about you try to explain it to me anyway," I said with crossed arms.

"How about you tell me how you know my mate first," he retorted.

I huffed stubbornly, but then I found myself answering The question. "Carlisle is Edward's father. He was born to him and his current wife, while she was still human."

"That's not possible," Eleazar replied evenly. "Vampires are incapable of reproducing in that way."

I shrugged. "Well, then I guess Edward is a miracle, because that is exactly what he is."

"Don't be a fool," he said, laughing darkly. "I know for a fact that it is impossible for vampires to procreate. Our cells are entirely incompatible with humans', and there have been a multitude of tests to prove so. I have no idea what possessed you to come up with such an outlandish tale, but…."

"I'm not lying to you, and I could care less if you believe me or not!" I snapped at him. I had a fairly shitty morning, and I didn't know where Edward was, so trying to convince Carlisle's so-called _mate_ that I was being honest, really wasn't all that important to me. "You are more than welcome to leave at any time."

He stared at me for a strained moment, and then sighed. "Bella, I believe we need to take a step back here. I didn't mean to offend you, and I do not think you're a liar, by any means."

"So, you do believe me?"

"I believe you believe what you're saying. I have a gift that enables me to detect deceit, and I know you are being truthful, as far as you are aware."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you aren't lying to me; you firmly believe the things that boy has told you, however, he is conveniently not here to prove he is not the liar. I'm sorry, but the things you're saying about him just aren't possible. Vampires and humans are incompatible. Vampires simply cannot produce life. If that boy is Carlisle's son, he was conceived the same way Rosalie was – before Carlisle became a vampire."

"Edward is not a liar. He doesn't know how or why he exists, he just does. His parents never told him anything, and apparently the so-called _mating bond_ between you and his father wasn't strong enough for him to return here to confide in you," I said, a little more harshly than I intended. "You said so yourself, Edward smells human, and it's because he is human… mostly. Carlisle is his father, and he was a vampire when he was conceived, and his mother was human."

"Where is Carlisle? If what you're claiming is true, Carlisle would be here with his child. He followed Rosalie to the ends of the earth, and I know he would do the same with another child of his if one existed."

"They were separated. They went somewhere looking for help with something, but they were captured and imprisoned."

Worry immediately plagued his features. "Captured? Carlisle and Rosalie are in the fighting circle?"

I nodded. "As far as we know. We came here to look for the treasure he told Edward about, so we can try to buy their freedom."

"Treasure?"

My stomach dropped. If Eleazar was really Carlisle's mate, or whatever, I'd assume he would have known about Carlisle's treasure. His blank questioning face was all the proof I needed that there was no such treasure. We were definitely screwed. When Edward returned – _if_ Edward returned, we would need to try to come up with some other plan.

"Why would Carlisle make Edward memorize a map to this island, and tell him there was treasure, if there wasn't any?" I questioned, not really expecting an answer. It seemed Eleazar was just as clueless about Carlisle's intentions on the matter as Edward was.

"I can assure you, there is no treasure here, which only further proves the boy lies. My Carlisle would not send anyone to this island looking for make believe treasure. It simply makes no sense. He certainly would have informed me if he remarried, and if the impossible happened, like the birth of a hybrid, he would have come straight home. He would have come to me for any help he may have needed, not some random place that would betray and imprison him."

"You said he left a long time ago with Rosalie. A lot could have happened in those years," I argued.

"We kept in touch through letters," he disagreed. "He told me absolutely everything that was happening during their travels."

"When did you receive your last letter?"

Eleazar sighed. "It's been eighty three years, seven months, thirteen days, and six hours."

"So maybe, since his last letter to you, he married, conceived Edward, and then got captured. Edward did say he was in captivity for about eighty years, so that would make sense."

"You expect me to believe that not only does a vampire-human hybrid exist, but that he has lived for over eighty years unchanged?"

"He is half vampire, so why is that so hard for you to believe?" I retorted. "Like I said before, no one told him anything about his life or how he came into existence. He knows who his parents are, and that Rosalie is his half-sister, but that's about it. They were captured when he was a small child, and he hasn't seen his family since. Those people who imprisoned him ran a whole bunch of torturous tests on him, and like his parents, they never explained any of it."

"Tests? Like in a lab?" he asked, suddenly eager, as if a lightbulb abruptly switched on in his brain.

"Yes, the Higginbotham lab," I confirmed, wondering if that name would mean anything to him.

Eleazar began pacing the room, and even began speaking to himself in his native Portuguese. It must have continued for a good fifteen minutes before he looked back at me with newfound belief clear in his eyes.

"Young Bella, please tell me, how did you come to be involved in all of this?"

"So, you do believe me now?" I asked, just to be sure.

"I have so many questions, but there might be a possibility growing in my mind. If he is what you say he is, there must be a huge force hunting him as we speak. This is too much for a mere human to bear. It may be wise for you to leave, and seek safety apart from him. If he is truly Carlisle's son, I will keep him safe."

"I'm not going anywhere. We belong together, and we're going to stay together… if he ever comes back."

Eleazar's head tilted, and his eyes fixated on the collar of my shirt. "Then again, you're not just a mere human anymore, are you?" he questioned strangely, making my heart jump. _Perhaps I really was in the process of changing after all._

"Uh, I think I may be a vampire now, or at least, I almost am," I admitted hesitantly. As subtly as possible, I reached for the top corner of the couch, and tried to test my super strength by nudging it, however, it wouldn't budge. "Um," Because the vampire must have known what I was doing, he smirked, which only pissed me off, so I turned towards the couch and tried to use my entire body strength to move it. Of course, I only ended up falling on my face. "Damn it!"

"You are no vampire," Eleazar said amused. "But you do smell like you have been touched by venom. Has Edward been feeding off of you?"

"Um," I climbed back to my feet and straightened out my clothes. "What do you mean?"

"It is possible for a vampire to feed off a human without killing or turning them. It is rather hard to do, but possible. Then again, if Edward is only part vampire, he may be able to control his urges better, thus having an easier time staying in control."

"Oh, well, I don't know how in control he was. It obviously freaked him out enough to make him run. I haven't seen him since," I admitted awkwardly.

"This just happened?"

"Yes, last night while we were…doing things."

"While you were engaging in sexual intercourse?"

My face flooded with heat. "Yeah. He never bit me before, so it kind of took us both by surprise."

"Where did he bite you exactly?"

"On the bed we made over there."

"Where on your body?" he clarified.

"Oh." It almost seemed like his question was too personal, but my hand betrayed me by reflexively jumping to the cool spot on my neck, and Eleazar spotted it.

"He bit your throat?"

"Why do you sound surprised? Isn't that where vampires bite people?" I asked confused.

"Hollywood likes to glamorize and sensationalize our species. In truth, most vampire bites occur on the extremities. Blood flows freely to the arms and legs, but takes work to return to the heart, therefore a deep wound like our bites, causes the blood to pour out faster, and allows the victim to die quicker."

"How kind of vampires," I said, having no idea how else to respond to a killer's casual description of the best way to kill a person.

"The bite to the neck is more intimate," he continued. "I've never known a real vampire to feed that way, however that is the location of the carotid artery. It's a big blood vessel that supplies oxygen to the brain. By introducing just a small amount of venom into that artery, he has basically altered your way of thinking."

"Huh?"

"You will be tied to him forever now – or at least, the remainder of your natural human life. A bite to the neck is the vampire mating ritual. Very odd to be done on a human in this way, but…" He reached towards me slowly, and pulled the collar of my shirt down so he could expose my bite mark. "Good lord!"

"What?" I asked in a panic.

"Each vampire's mating mark is as unique as a human's fingerprint, but yours looks remarkably similar to mine. I have never seen two marks so close to identical."

He leaned in closer to my neck, and I probably should have been scared, but for whatever reason, I simply wasn't. In fact, I was so not scared that I wondered if my fear instinct was broken in some way. "Your Edward's venom even smells like Carlisle's. Absolutely incredible. It is as if he is almost his clone."

"Uh, you saw him at the store, and I've seen Carlisle through Edward's memory, they don't look all that much alike."

"No, they don't."

"If you can smell his venom in me, how am I not turning into a vampire?"

"A little venom can go a long way, it's true, but the amount in you smells very faint. Either he stopped himself before introducing enough of his venom into you for the change to occur, or his human side has weakened his venom too much for it to be effective. As far as I'm aware, Edward is completely unique, so there is no telling what he is capable of. I can't even wrap my mind around how he exists in the first place."

"Well, I wish you could talk to Edward about everything he knows of his family, but I don't know where he went," I said with a sigh.

"I'm sure he will return. The mating bond is too strong to resist."

"Carlisle has been away from you for decades," I argued.

"Yes, and I have ached for him every day since he left, but for vampires, years pass like days do for humans. I long for him, more and more with every trip around the sun. That feeling only grows with time, but I have learned to live with it. During those first few years when our mating bond was new, however, we couldn't stand to be apart for more than a few hours. I'm sure the feeling is the same for Edward. He will return, and I'm sure he will return soon."

"So, if a bite to the neck is a mating thing, why would Edward do that while we were having sex?" I questioned confused. "You said it has nothing to do with sexuality."

"It doesn't. The bond of mates goes beyond the corporeal world. It goes so much deeper than anything a human could possibly understand. It's not even twin souls, it's as if one soul was torn in two, and they only feel complete when they are together."

"But it's not romantic?" I asked again.

"No, it's spiritual, in a sense. I've known some natural siblings who found themselves mating as vampires. It's so much deeper than sex or romance could ever be. It's a bond that outlasts the hands of time. No argument, or attraction for any other, could ever lessen it. Besides, when it comes to sex, vampires tend to lose interest rather quickly. Without all those human overactive hormones, it just isn't the same for us. Most vampires lose their sex drive altogether after the transformation. The most intense physical connection vampires can make, is that of the mating ritual. It only has to be done once to solidify the bond, but if desired, can be repeated to intensify the physical euphoria of it. Carlisle and I mated often."

"And the mating ritual is biting the neck?" I asked again to clarify.

"It's venom sharing. The mates latch on to each other's necks, and share their venom so they are one. It's a unification of body and soul. Venom is our life-source. There is no greater unification in the universe."

"Okay, but if it's not sexual, why did he do it to me during sex?" I asked again.

"Was there something different about this particular encounter? Was he calmer, for some reason?"

"Uh… Yeah. He feels the emotions of those around him, so being here, alone, he was able to be free to feel only his emotions. We had a really good day. It was probably the happiest I had ever seen him, and then we were making love, and…" I shrugged.

"The mating bond is instinctual. We don't choose our mates, it's deeper than the consciousness. I felt it right away with Carlisle. It's an intense feeling, to say the least, but it is possible that Edward's humanity shrouded his urge to mate, or confused him. You are human too, so it's conceivable that neither of you could identify the feeling. It is your human side that drives you to want to have intercourse, which is the greatest physical bond humans can have, so it would make sense, that with your human needs being satisfied, and the freedom from his burdensome gift of sensing others emotions, he lost control of his instincts and let them take over."

"I guess that makes sense."

"But it is unheard of for the mating ritual to be one-sided, which is why it has never been done with a human. What were you doing when he bit you?"

"Uh, we were having sex, how graphic do you want me to get here?"

"Details of your sexual relationship don't interest me, or phase me whatsoever. I only ask because if you happened to have attached yourself to that same spot on his neck, it would make a little more sense to me."

"I'm not a vampire, so why would I bite him?"

"Perhaps it wasn't a bite, perhaps a kiss. I'm trying to remember from my human life… A hickey, maybe? It may have triggered his mating instinct. That, mixed with his reduced self-restrain, it would make sense to me that he may have bit you without even realizing what he was doing."

"Oh. Maybe," I said, trying to remember if I had been giving him a hickey when he bit me, or even just kissing him on his neck. But the truth was, it had been such an amazingly sensual time that I wasn't really paying attention to any of that. It was all just an incredible blur of sensation, that I had basically left all my thought processes out of it.

"But you're sure this is a mating bite?" I questioned. "Like, he didn't have an urge to feed off of me and did it in the wrong place, or anything?" It sounded like it was fairly rare for vampire mates to be romantic, so I was just curious more than anything. I wasn't sure how I would feel if Edward suddenly found someone else to "mate" with. Regardless of any other potential mating being non-sexual, I still wouldn't want to share him in that way.

"It would be the first I heard of a feeding bite in that location. Of course, this is the first I heard of a hybrid as well. Feeding bites and mating bites definitely appear different. Why don't you let me have a second look at yours, just to be sure?"

Eleazar used his finger to gently pull the fabric away from my neck, but the moment he leaned in to get a better look, there was a streak of color and a loud crashing noise that made me reflexively squeeze my eyes shut. When I finally managed to reopen them again, the living room looked like a tornado had swept through, and Eleazar was crumpled in a huge hole in the wall, with a crazed looking Edward snarling in his direction…


	18. Swimming

***A/N: Trigger warning for this chapter. Please message me for details if necessary. Thank you!

...

 **Chapter 18 – Swimming**

"Edward, stop!" I shouted.

I attempted to get between him, and the rubble that used to be Eleazar and the living room wall, but Edward moved too quickly, and picked up the crumpled vampire, only to throw him into the adjacent wall.

"Stop!" I screamed.

He was in a blind rage, and I worried he'd use Eleazar's body like a wrecking ball to demolish the entire house, but what scared me more than anything was the way he looked. The rage was almost inconsequential compared to his shockingly distorted features. He had red and blue veins protruding from his cheeks and neck, and his skin was now paper white. His eyes were bulging and black in color, and his hair and clothes were sopping wet.

 _What the hell happened to him? –_ My heart ached just considering the possibilities.

"Calm down, child. I mean you no harm," Eleazar tried stopping him, but it was of no use. Edward grabbed his leg, and flung him into the kitchen.

"That's enough!" I demanded. I got right in front of him and grabbed ahold of his face, forcing him to look in my eyes. "Calm down. He wasn't hurting me. He is a friend of your dad's, and if anyone can help us, it's him."

Through the contact of his skin, I could sense his protective anger, but I could also see something else, something that was dizzying and bewildering due to his current distressed state, something horrifying...

 _There was darkness, and confusion, and pain. I could taste salt on my tongue as the feeling of water burned and filled my airway. There was panic, and determination, and excruciating agony that was accompanied by the horrifying sensation of drowning, which completely devoured me, over and over again. Death seemed too kind, but its hold on me was weak and my body refused to allow it. I wanted to scream, but my lungs were so full of water that no noise could escape. There were brief moments of relief when I felt my heart stop, and in those beautiful moments, there was peace, but it didn't last. It couldn't last. My body refused to let me die. My heart would restart, and I would drown all over again, until I was so flooded with water that it ran through every vein and saturated my heart. It could not beat in that state, but my body kept me conscious, and my mind kept screaming. But then there was something. Something above. A motor perhaps. Suddenly none of the pain mattered, I needed to get somewhere. I had to protect something so much more important than any of my self-loathing, so I ran. I ran under water as fast as my dead, waterlogged, body was capable of, and I continued running right into the break of the water and onto the shore. I ran, and then I attacked._

When I finally managed to pry my hands away from Edward's face, I was left panting and coughing from the phantom sensation of the burning saltwater in my lungs.

"What did you do?" I cried. "Edward, why did you…" I couldn't even catch my breath long enough to get the words out. Being in Edward's mind felt more real than ever before. I could still taste it, still feel the burn. It had to be the most intense pain I ever experienced. It was as if it happened to me, instead of just watching it happen to him. I could feel his emotions intensely as they became my emotions, and it was terrifying.

I wasn't sure if he fully grasped what he did, but I knew, and it made me nauseous. Edward had tried to drown himself.

When Eleazar recovered from the wall, he stood and raised his hand towards Edward, hoping to convey his innocence. "Please, I mean you no harm. My name is Eleazar. I am your father's mate, so I would never hurt you or your mate," he told him with gentle conviction. "I only want to help you."

"Edward, he's telling you the truth," I tried convincing him, but for whatever reason, I wasn't getting through.

My head was still spinning from his shared vision, but somehow I knew it would only get worse before it got better. Water seemed to be seeping out through the pores of his papery skin, making him almost look translucent in a weird way.

Eleazar took a step closer, but it only caused Edward to bare his teeth at him in a silent hiss.

"Bella, get behind him!" Eleazar said in a restrained rush. "He isn't comfortable with you between us."

I did as he instructed, but it only calmed Edward fractionally.

"Child, I am not here to hurt your mate," Eleazar told him again, but Edward continued to glare at him with deadly intent. "He can't understand anything I'm saying. All he sees is an unfamiliar vampire threatening his mate."

"Does he think you're lying?" I questioned.

"I don't think he's thinking anything," Eleazar replied while taking a cautious step closer. "He seems to be running on pure instinct, and the strongest instinct a vampire has is to protect his mate."

"Why isn't he thinking?" I asked anxiously.

"Earlier you said he was mostly human lately due to his diet?" he questioned.

"Yes, his diet controls his physicality."

"Well, because he's currently been mostly human, I'd say right about now, he's mostly dead," he said, shocking the hell out of me and making my stomach twist in the most excruciating knot. "At this point, he looks more zombie than vampire."

"What the hell does that mean?" I asked in a panic.

"It means his human side of him must have died, and his vampire side is too weak to heal him, or to allow him to function like a normal vampire. We need to get his heart beating again," he said, suddenly in determined motion. "I need to get the medical kit out of my boat. I will return momentarily."

He sped away in a flash of vampire speed, and returned almost as quickly.

"I'm thinking he must have taken in too much water. The water was pumped through his veins, which caused his heart to overwork and stop altogether. Now it can't restart until we clear out the water from his lungs. Bella, I'm going to need to wrap my arms around him to do this, so I need you to reassure him by touching him somewhere, otherwise I'm going to lose a limb. He can't understand anything I'm saying, but he can understand your bond. Touch him, and don't let go. Keep reminding him that I'm his friend."

I nodded, and did as he asked, but the moment I came in contact with his skin again, the feeling of drowning engulfed me once more.

I let go and gasped for air. "I can't… I can't bre…breathe…"

"You are only feeling what he's feeling, but you must remember it's only in your mind. You _can_ breathe, even if your mind is telling you otherwise. You must be strong for him, or I can't do this. Fight through the feeling, swim through it if you have to."

He was right, I didn't have a choice. Edward would do anything for me, and I had to be willing to do anything for him in return, and I was. So, I took several deep, calming breaths, before bracing myself and reaching for him once more. That feeling of self-preservation panic began immediately, but this time I refused to let go...

 _My consciousness was pulled into his like someone being dragged underwater by an unseen force, but instead of fighting it like I wanted to, I followed Eleazar's advice and let myself sink. Once I was fully submerged, I calmly took control and began swimming. I swam so far, for so long, until finally I saw him. He was just floating through the vast dark sea, completely locked in his own personal hell. I watched him for what felt like hours; he looked almost peaceful as he floated there, but something made him turn and look at me, and his eyes suddenly grew large, as if he feared I'd drown with him._

 _It was clear to me that it was only his fear for my life that got him to snap out of it. He reached for my arm, and like someone pulling the plug in a bath, the water began draining around us at rapid speed. I tried to keep us linked together, but the sheer force of the draining ripped us apart, both mentally and physically…_

The moment my hand broke from his skin, I was thrust back into reality, and I was left panting for air on the floor. My lungs stung from the phantom feeling of the imaginary salt water, but I was immediately relieved when my eyes focused on Edward, who was violently expelling real saltwater from his lungs.

It was shocking. The amount of water coming out of him was incredible and heartbreaking at the same time. I expected him to somehow be magically better the moment his lungs were clear, but I was quickly proved wrong when he fell to the ground and slipped into total unconsciousness. I practically flew to his side, and without hesitation, I reached for his skin again, hoping to see he was okay through his thoughts, but there was just nothing. No ocean of pain, no pleasant memories, not even random colors. His mind was completely dark.

"Why isn't he waking up?" I asked Eleazar, hoping he would have some idea as to what was happening with him.

"His heart still isn't beating. Whatever he was holding onto to stay in that version of zombified consciousness, must have dissipated. He can't fully die due to his vampire DNA, unless of course, he is beheaded or his body is burned, but he still needs to be revived, or I'm not sure how long it would take for him to recover. Now that the water is out of his airway, he needs his heart to restart and begin pumping pure blood through," he explained.

He began doing what looked like CPR, without the mouth to mouth, and would pause after several beats to listen if his heart was beating on its own.

"I think he needs blood. There's still too much saltwater in his veins." Eleazar stared at me meaningfully.

"What? Oh…you mean…he needs _my_ blood?"

"I certainly can't give him any. I have a kit here in my bag," he said while pulling out a sterile needle pack.

If I was thinking clearly, I probably would have questioned a vampire requesting to draw my blood, but in that moment, I was far too concerned about Edward to care. However, I couldn't help my curiosity breaking through my fear enough to wonder out loud why he was shoving a tube down Edward's throat. "What are you doing?"

Eleazar kept his hands moving while he explained. "As I told you, he needs blood, and because he is half vampire and currently unconscious, I'd say this is the fastest way if getting it into his system."

I was still confused, but when he cleaned my arm and prepped the needle, it all became clear. After piercing my skin, the blood began flowing out of my arm, through the long tube attached to it, and straight down Edward's throat and into his stomach. Had he been awake and aware of what was happening, I was sure he would have been pissed, but I couldn't worry about that at the moment.

I watched in awe as the color of Edward's skin slowly turned from paper white, to pale pink, and finally a healthier hue of his natural shade.

"Okay, that's enough. If I give him any more of your blood, you'll start to feel faint," Eleazar said as he pulled the needle out of my arm and covered it with a bandage. I'd never admit it, but I was already starting to feel woozy, but it was probably due to my lack of sustenance for the past several hours.

"His vitals are picking back up. He should wake up in a few hours."

"A few hours?" I nearly spat.

"Yes, he has experienced a severe trauma to his system. He needs sleep now."

I sighed. "I suppose that makes sense."

I brought a couch pillow over to place under his head, and because his skin felt cold, I covered him with the throw blanket, and then there was nothing left to do but wait. Wait, and interrogate Eleazar.

"So, when you were human, were you a doctor, or something?" I asked, still not understanding how or why a vampire would have a medical kit or any of the required knowledge to help in that way.

"No, but I have seen enough medical interventions to know what to do in various situations. I keep the medical kit because I've come across so many people needing emergency help. Being on the water like this, in often hostile conditions, many times I'm the only one who can get to someone in need fast enough, and it makes me feel better to be prepared to help."

"But why do you care what happens to humans? You're a vampire."

"I am, and I love people. I like to think of myself as a vegetarian, in a way, since I only ever feed off of animal blood."

"You save people? That's an incredible use of your immortality, Eleazar. I bet you go around the city thwarting crime too."

"I have stopped a few muggings, and a couple attempted assaults," he admitted sheepishly.

"Wow, you're like a vampire batman," I said with astonishment. "Wait, do vampires turn into bats?"

He chuckled. "Only in old movies."

Eleazar and I continued conversing effortlessly, and I was amazed by just how close I felt to him in a relatively short amount of time. He was very paternal in the way he spoke and the vibes he gave off. He was definitely a gentle soul, and I was grateful we found him in that boat rental shop. He would help us in our mission to free Edward's family, I didn't have a doubt.

A couple of hours passed, and finally Edward started to stir. He began with a few moans, and then his head thrashed to the side, and it all escalated from there. His eyes suddenly snapped open, and he immediately jumped to his feet to take another protective stance between me and Eleazar.

"Peace, my child. I mean you no harm," Eleazar told him, yet again.

"Calm down, everything is fine," I cooed while rubbing Edward's back in an attempt to get him to relax.

"Why are you here?" Edward growled at him, with his voice sounding rough and painful.

"This is my home. I'm your father's mate. I came to try to understand who you were."

"You're my father's what?"

"Edward, let's go sit so we can all talk," I suggested, but he didn't move. His glare remained fixed on the vampire he didn't know, so Eleazar decided it was best to give us a few minutes of privacy so we could discuss a few important things before diving into the conversation about Carlisle.

When Eleazar was at a safe distance away from the house, Edward finally relaxed a fraction, and looked around the room confused.

"What happened to this place?"

"You don't remember throwing Eleazar through the wall several times?"

"What-a-huh?"

"That vampire," I said, pointing towards the door he had just departed through.

"The last thing I remember was being in bed with you… Wait, did you just say that vampire was _Eleazar_?" he asked surprised.

"You say that like you know him."

"My father talked about him several times when I was young. He said he was his special friend, and that we would go meet him someday."

"The whole mating thing is weird. Eleazar said it's an intense bond between two vampires that's usually platonic, but I guess for us it's a little less platonic."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never heard of mating."

"Well, you were pretty sheltered. I'm surprised Emmett never told you about it."

I planned to let Eleazar explain the mating bond to him when he returned, because I was still a little confused by the entire thing, but before that, we needed to discuss what the hell just happened.

"Edward, why did you try to kill yourself?" I asked emotionally.

"Kill myself? I didn't…" He let his words trail off as if he suddenly remembered something. "It's all a little foggy, but, I bit you," he said, suddenly horrified.

"Yeah, it's a mating bite. Eleazar explained the entire thing, and it makes sense – I think. But even if you bit me out of hunger, or something, why would you try to kill yourself?"

Edward reached for my shirt collar, and pulled it down so he could expose the mark. His face fell into pain and self-loathing. "I don't know why that happened."

"I do, it's a mating bite," I repeated. "Vampires bite each other there to signify their mating bond, and venom is shared, or something like that. It's a normal thing for vampires, but because you didn't understand it, you ran off into the ocean and drowned yourself. Edward, how could you do that? How could you try to abandon me here like that?"

"I thought, I don't know what I thought. I didn't hurt you?"

"No. At least not by biting me. Trying to kill yourself hurt like hell though. I never felt anything worse in my entire life."

He shook his head absently. "Bella, I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. I freaked out. I thought… I thought I was the one monster who would always keep you safe, but then I bit you, and…" He shook his head again. "I just reacted. I don't know."

"You reacted by drowning yourself?" I cried. "Edward, up until a few days ago you were terrified of water because of what was done to you as a child. The feeling of drowning had haunted you for so long, and that's what you chose to do to yourself when you were mad at what you did?"

"I wasn't thinking clearly. I… thought I lost control. I can think of nothing worse than hurting you, so I…"

"So, you hurt yourself in the worst way you knew how," I finished for him. It was horrible, but at the same time, I understood it. Edward had so much past trauma, that I couldn't expect him to react to situations in a normal, healthy, way. If he were a regular human with his background, he'd probably be subjected to intense therapy for the rest of his life, or he'd even be committed to a mental hospital, so the fact he was functioning at all was amazing. I needed to just keep holding onto him as tightly as possible and hope nothing else threatened his stability. Of course, with our coming plans to free his family, chances were it wouldn't be smooth sailing. Danger was inevitable, I needed to keep reminding him we would only make it if we stayed together.

But I wasn't about to lecture him at the moment, so I simply wrapped my arms around him, and held him while reaffirming my love for him over and over through our mental connection. He still didn't understand the whole mating bite thing, so his thoughts were of agonizing remorse, but he didn't push me away, and that was what truly mattered. We continued to hold each other that way until Eleazar rejoined us.

"I apologize. I can return later if you would like," he offered when he saw us still embracing.

"No, it's okay. You should probably get acquainted with Edward," I told him.

Eleazar nodded. "I would like that very much, but first I should feed you," he said strangely. It was then I noticed the bags of what looked like groceries in his hands. "I always keep fresh food in my little houseboat kitchen, just in case I find people in need. As far as I can tell, you are both in need right now."

He pulled raw chicken out of one of the bags, and set it down next to the stove.

"Oh, uh, I don't think that's a real stove," I said, but let my mouth drop open in shock when Eleazar easily turned it on, and began cooking.

"Of course it's real. Rosalie enjoyed cooking very much. She would cook these huge meals here, and then I'd take them to the mainland to the homeless shelters. I turn off all the power and gas lines when I leave here for an extended amount of time, but I switched it all back on while I was outside just now."

"Rosalie used to cook for me too," Edward said quietly, and because I was still touching him, I could see his old, previously forgotten memory of his sister making him meals. He could vaguely remember that they were delicious, and even the thought of them made my stomach twist in painful twangs of hunger.

Suddenly Edward burped, and a look of surprise and horror swept across his face. "If I only bit you for a mating thing, why the hell does my stomach gases taste like your blood?"

"You were essentially dead from the water. You needed the blood," Eleazar said factually.

Edward's features fell in anger.

"Don't even complain," I told him. "You needed it, and I had some to spare."

As I previously predicted, he wasn't happy about it, but instead of voicing his complaint, he just sulked for the few minutes it took for Eleazar to finish the chicken.

Surprisingly, the food was delicious, and it felt so good in my empty stomach. Edward grudgingly ate with me, and Eleazar took that opportunity to further explain the mating bond, and his relationship to Carlisle. Edward was a little uncomfortable at first, but it wasn't long until I could feel that discomfort melt away into a new budding relationship. Eleazar was practically twin souls with his father, therefore it wasn't even possible for Edward to not feel that connection as well, and I could foresee them becoming close, which I was grateful for.

When the mating talk seemed to run its course, the conversation morphed into that of Edward's unusual existence.

"The only explanation I can determine for your life, is that one of the concoctions your father invented while working for the lab, worked," Eleazar told us.

"Concoctions?" I asked confused.

"The Higginbotham's employed both vampires and human scientists, who were working on a way to combine the species. They were trying to create the ultimate super-human, who would carry the strength and immortality of vampires, but not be tied to the bloodlust and some of the other less than desirable vampire qualities."

"That's what my father was doing when he worked for them?" Edward questioned.

"Your father has an exceptionally gifted mind, and the Higginbotham's thought he could help them. In return, he was permitted to live a relatively free life with his daughter. It was his way to buy Rosalie's safety from the tournament fighting, so he worked for them for many years. Now, this was all before I met him, so all I know is what he told me."

"So, they were trying to invent a concoctions that would allow our two species to breed?" I asked, trying to clarify.

"I don't think it was their intentions for the species to breed. The intention was to weaken the vampire cells enough so they could infuse with human cells. The vampires working there experimented on other vampire captives, as well as themselves. They would inject themselves with the serums they designed, and document their findings. Carlisle didn't think any of them worked. It was his belief that vampire cells would just destroy any human cells they were introduced to, but one of them must have eventually worked without him realizing it, in order for you to be here today," he said to Edward.

"How did Carlisle get away from the lab?" I asked, knowing he wasn't working for them when Edward was born.

"Something happened. Carlisle said he went into work one day, and there was chaos. One of the other vampires told him that there was an accident and a human scientist was killed. He suggested to your father to take his daughter and run away before they shut down the lab and imprisoned them all. So he did. He must have felt my soul calling to his, because he brought Rosalie here to Rio, and that's when we met."

"And they were here with you for a few decades until they went back to the US?" I asked, trying to grasp the timeline.

"Yes. Rosalie was lonely, and longed for a mate of her own. She felt her mate would be in the states, so Carlisle agreed to accompany her there to search. I would have gone with them, but I was still a young vampire, and my human daughter was in her elder years, so I wanted to stay with her until she passed. I was her caretaker when she became too old to care for herself. Her ungrateful children abandoned her, and I could not do the same. I certainly didn't expect Carlisle and Rosalie to be gone this long."

"But you said you kept in touch with letters, right?" I asked.

"Yes. The last I heard, Rosalie had enrolled in a high school in the Chicago area. She wanted to be around people, and that was a way for her to achieve that. Apparently, one of her teachers took interest in her rather unique qualities, and discovered the truth about them. Carlisle told me he was considering turning her, because he wondered if she was Rosalie's mate in human form."

"The teacher?"

Eleazar nodded. "I was expecting them to return home with the human, so she could be turned and spend the newborn years here on the safety and privacy of our island, but they never showed, and I never heard from them again."

"My mother was a teacher as a human," Edward mumbled unexpectedly.

"Esme?" Eleazar asked.

"Yep," Edward replied evenly.

"Carlisle had a romance with Rosalie's human? That is very unexpected. He never mentioned having those feelings in any of his letters. He only spoke of her relationship to Rosalie."

"Maybe it all happened rather quickly," I speculated. "Maybe the relationship surprised him too. He could have been in denial about his feelings for her until they were in the middle of it all."

"That would make sense," Edward agreed. "I know I came rather quickly, and I grew extremely fast, which was why my parents were worried about my lifespan. They took me to the Higginbotham mansion hoping to find someone who could help, or at least have some kind of understanding about my life and growth. I believe he hoped that the humans from his previous time there were dead. He was looking for a particular vampire he used to work with, and thought there was a possibility that the lab was still in operation, but being managed by a more compassionate staff. It was their desperate fear for my lifespan that caused them to put their trust in the wrong people, who ultimately captured and separated us."

"Edward, it's not your fault," I said, knowing he blamed himself for what happened to them.

"If it wasn't for me, they would have come back here and stayed safe from those people."

"You didn't ask to be born," I told him. "And they could have brought you back here anyway, and just hoped for the best. Going to that place was their choice. You're still alive after eighty years, so their concerns about your growth turned out to be unfounded."

"So you're saying that basically, they were captured for nothing," he stated.

"I know my mate," Eleazar interjected. "I'm sure he had good reason to believe you all would be safe there, otherwise he wouldn't have gone. He is the smartest being I've ever come across, and I know he did what he felt was right."

"Yeah, well, he was wrong," Edward said bitterly.

Eleazar nodded. "No one is perfect, not even Carlisle. What happened, happened. We can't change it, so there is no point in stewing over it. Now we need to try to figure out how to rescue them."

"We had a plan, but it was based on the idea there was treasure here," I told him.

"Wait, there is no treasure?" Edward questioned.

"None that I'm aware of, and I highly doubt Carlisle wouldn't inform me about something like that. The only reason I can think of that he would tell you to come here, is perhaps he was trying to get you to come to me," Eleazar said to Edward. "He knew I would always keep you safe, and protect you with my own life if it came to that."

"Why wouldn't he tell me that instead of making up some story about treasure?" Edward wondered.

"You were a little boy, maybe he thought you wouldn't understand," I offered.

"Regardless, unless anyone has any other idea of how to save my family, we're basically at square one. Without money, we have nothing."

"I may not have many liquid assets, but I do have some property around the mainland that I can sell. Let me make a few phone calls and see what I can come up with. Either way, Edward, we will get them out. I will stop at nothing to free my mate and his family. Failure isn't even an option."

Edward nodded. "Thank you, Eleazar. And thank you for saving me."

"It was your will to protect your mate that saved you," Eleazar replied. "The vampire in you wouldn't have let you die completely. Eventually the water would have receded, and you would have healed. I am no scientist, but if I had to guess, I'd say you can only fully die if the vampire in you dies."

"Dies by beheading or fire?" I questioned with a gulp.

"Precisely," Eleazar confirmed. "Other than that, nothing kills us. Rest assure, sweet Bella, your mate seems fairly durable. He is truly a remarkable creature."

"That he is," I agreed.

Eleazar decided to get right to work trying to find us some money, so he said goodbye for the day, and headed back to the mainland. Once we were alone again, it was time to get Edward cleaned up, and to show him, once again, just how vitally important he was to me.

"Time for a shower," I told him gently.

"That's a good idea," he agreed. "Bella, I really am sorry. I'd never do anything intentionally to cause you pain of any kind."

"I know," I assured him, and then kissed his temple, and pulled him down the hall towards the bathroom, sincerely hoping Eleazar turned on the water heater as well…


	19. Floating

**Chapter 19 – Floating**

It was another emotional shower. He was deep in remorse, and I was in deep sorrow that he could ever hate himself enough to want to die. I just needed to hold him, and as the warm water ran down our backs, I was grateful we were both there, both okay, and both entirely in the moment.

When I finally managed to pull myself away from him, just enough to wash the crusty ocean salt clean from his hair, our lips found each other's, and we would alternate between kissing and washing. At one point, he ran his fingers gently over his bite mark on my neck, and because of our physical contact, I knew just how intensely confused he felt about it. He hated thinking he hurt me, but there was something else, something almost innately alluring about it at the same time. Having his mark on me created an entirely new level of almost animalistic lust, that neither of us were expecting.

He clearly didn't want to be turned on by it, but he was, and I was surprised by just how much I was too. It suddenly became an intense hunger, so much stronger than any other type of hunger I ever experienced before. It was the most powerful throb of aching arousal just under that mark, and it was so much stronger than even the spot between my thighs. I honestly felt like I'd combust if the desire wasn't satiated, and I automatically knew that could only happen by his teeth breaking my skin once again.

I knotted my hands in the back of his hair, and without even consciously deciding to do so, I tried to gently coax his head downward so his lips would come closer to my neck. Just when they were about to make contact, however, he pulled back, and practically jumped out of the shower.

"Edward," I gasped.

"Gah, I want to bite you!" he hissed as he stumbled his way out of the bathroom.

I turned off the water and followed him as quickly as my slow clumsy legs would take me. Thankfully, he didn't run away like the last time, he was simply standing frozen in the conjoined bedroom, letting the water roll down his perfect naked body to a puddle at his feet. _God he was beautiful._

"I'm sorry, I don't know what the hell is wrong with me," he mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Eleazar explained this. It's just the mating thingy. It's perfectly normal for you to want to bite me," I tried reassuring him. I cuddled myself to his side, but he stepped away.

"No, what he said was that vampire mates bite each other's necks to share their venom and to strengthen their bond. You are not a vampire, I shouldn't be biting you."

"But I want you to," I whined.

He looked at me with incredulousness. "Bella…"

"I can't explain it, but I want it so bad. It all happened so fast last time, and I don't even remember the feeling, but I'm craving it more than I ever craved anything before."

"Why?"

"I don't know. He did also tell me something about having my brain permanently altered by your venom, or something. It's like I feel this intense need for that connection all of the sudden."

Edward stared at me like I was insane.

I huffed. "Fine, don't bite me then. Right now I really don't care, I just need… _something_ ," I said, suddenly feeling antsy, almost as if I had an excruciating itch all over my body that I needed him to scratch.

Not giving him another opportunity to run away from me, I forced his arms open, and wedged my bare body next to his flesh, and then lifted myself up so he had to hold me. I was so wound up I'd probably orgasm from just his tongue on my heated skin, if he would so indulge me.

Through our touch he knew what I needed, and as hesitant as he was, he couldn't deny me either. Whether either of us truly understood it or not, I was his mate, and because of that, he was almost compelled to give me everything I was desperate for.

His lips reluctantly locked to mine, but it wasn't long before he lost the battle within himself and fell victim to his own desires. The intensity of our connection caused him to stumble, so that my back hit the wall behind me. He didn't let me go, and he didn't slow our kiss; if anything, he just kissed me harder as he pinned me there against the wall, where he immediately bucked his hips to thrust himself deep inside me.

Just a few hard pumps and I was already coming undone around him. He could feel it, and apparently he wasn't going to allow it. He pulled out of me, and then raced us to the living room where our makeshift bed was on the floor. He practically dropped me on it, and then fell to his knees between my legs. Ever so slowly, he began kissing his way up my body, starting with my knee, and moving to my thigh, and onto my hip.

Everywhere his mouth went, it left a trail of hot goosebumps on my skin. I became more desperate than ever before, but every time I was close to that explosive climax I ached for, he would do something to slow it down, and as maddening as it was, I knew exactly what he was doing.

"It's okay to bite me," I nearly shouted at him.

"No!" he roared back.

"It doesn't hurt. It feels good."

He knew how much I wanted it, it was all right there in our linked minds, but at the same time, I knew why he kept refusing. He was no longer worried about it hurting me, and he wasn't worried about getting carried away and draining me dry because he could never do such a thing to me. No, his only concern was that he wouldn't know the difference between an impotent mate bite, and one that could potentially change me into a vampire. Eleazar had mentioned there was a difference, but he never said what the exact difference was. He had bitten me before without thought, and other than his following freak-out, nothing happened to me; now, it seemed he did a one-eighty and was completely overthinking it.

"Just turn your brain off!" I cried as my body tensed in painful knots, begging for release.

So many thoughts devoured his mind. He wondered what would happen if he did turn me into a vampire? Would it be so bad? At least he could keep me forever. But it wasn't the right time. The world sucked for any creature besides humans, so he considered how selfish it would be to inflict that kind of potential horrors onto me. Not to mention our entire plan for saving his family was based on me being human and getting us into those tournaments. Then again, the plan was shot now without the treasure to fund it. There were so many variables in his mind, and they were all competing with his intense yearning to indulge in that bite that he wanted to give me even more than I wanted to receive it. Having a link to his busy, complicated, gifted mind was a beautiful thing, but damn, it was exhausting.

"Whatever happens, we will deal with it," I tried assuring him. "Edward, please."

The pulsating sensation just below the skin where he had previously bitten me raged stronger, as if it was almost calling for him to do it again. He knew it, he could feel it and hear it, hell he could even smell it. It was a new aroma, a pheromone that didn't exist before that mating mark was there. It was stronger than sexual arousal could ever be, and even more shocking was my sudden urge to bite his neck as well.

I didn't understand it, but I wasn't scared of it the way Edward was. He may have been confused and holding back, but I wasn't strong enough to control that need. He felt my intention before it happened, but he didn't know if he should stop it, and he didn't.

My mouth attached to that tantalizing spot just above his collarbone, and without knowing if my teeth were even strong enough to break through his skin, I bit down hard.

My mind immediately morphed into an ocean of sensation as his blood spilled over my tongue. The hot metallic flavor of it was much more appealing than I ever would have expected, but it was the feeling of his flesh in my mouth, and the gravity of our ultimate connection, that was really what made it so powerful. However, nothing could ever compare to the feeling that devoured me when Edward's jaw locked into my neck in return. It was beyond euphoria - it was beyond all words known to man. It was impossible to describe, because it was impossible to even fully comprehend. It was above me, and my average human intellect. For however long we were attached in that way, everything else faded away. Time didn't even exist - nothing existed except that otherworldly connection.

The feeling was too much, too strong for a mere mortal to endure. The euphoric feeling escalated too high until I just couldn't hold on for a moment longer. It was what I'd imagine an atomic explosion feeling like; it was so much more intense of a sensation than I ever knew possible, and then everything went black.

…

Ever so slowly, I felt myself regaining awareness through the darkness. There was a sense of peace that briefly caused me to wonder if I had somehow found my way to heaven. My entire body felt like it was buzzing; it was a high that I never wanted to come down from. But gravity always brought everything back down, and I knew this would be no different. However, unlike some horrible drug induced letdown, I was gliding back to earth softly, smoothly, like a leaf falling in a gentle breeze.

Eventually I opened my eyes feeling a joyful peace. Even seeing Edward sitting by the window in the opposite side of the room didn't trouble me. In those moments, the world was perfect, or at least, that's how I was feeling.

"Hey, why are you so far away?" I murmured, wondering if my voice was as wispy as it sounded in my head.

Edward sighed, and then rejoined me on our couch cushion floor bed. "You've been asleep for over fifteen hours," he told me unexpectedly.

"Fifteen hours?" I meant to sound more shocked, but it just came out slightly slurred, and far more relaxed than I intended. "How did I sleep that long? I'm sorry, I'm sure you were worried."

"Not really," he replied, surprising the hell out of me. "Even while you were unconscious, I could still see you were feeling pretty good. Your vitals remained stable, so I forced myself to not freak out. Then Eleazar stopped by a little while ago."

"Well, that's embarrassing. I'm lying here nak – I'm not naked anymore," I said confused, knowing I was naked when I went to sleep.

"No, I heard the boat coming, so I hurried to dress you."

"Well, kind of," I said, noticing my arm was through the shirt head hole, and I was pretty much twisted in a tangled mess.

"Are you dressed wrong? I'm sorry, I did it quickly and I wasn't sure how it was supposed to go."

"That's okay. I'm just glad I wasn't lying here exposed when Eleazar came in."

"I'd never allow him in when you weren't clothed; I had enough trouble letting him in when you were sleeping. I am glad he came though. He had some ideas as to why you were out for so long."

"Which were?"

"He hypothesized that because you're only human, the mating bite is too intense for you, so you end up passing out."

"Oh… but we're totally going to keep doing it, right? Because that was amazing. I never felt anything like it. In fact, would you mind hitting me up again right now?" I joked while tilting my head to the side, exposing my neck.

He shockingly smirked, and then kissed me tenderly on that spot. "I don't want you passing out again right now. I think we will have to reserve biting for when we have extra time."

I smiled. "But you're not against a little non-biting fucking?"

"Are you kidding? We didn't even get to finish last time. It fucking hurts."

I giggled. "Ahh, babe, do you have a case of blue balls?"

"I don't know what that is, but if it means they hurt, then yes."

I laughed, and then pulled him down so I could climb over him. After struggling to pull off my twisted top, I got right to work making sure to take extra care of his sensitive testicles.

Despite the almost stoned sensation I was still experiencing from the lingering mating bite, it wasn't long before I was coming hard. It had to be the most vocal climax I ever experienced as we both moaned and growled through our orgasms.

"That was pretty amazing," I said as I panted for air next to him.

"I don't know how it keeps getting better and better," he agreed. "It has to top out at some point, right?"

"Not necessarily," I said, while rolling over so I was lying on his chest. "I'm all for it getting better every time." I scooted up so I could kiss his neck, but then I noticed something. "Hey, my bite mark is gone," I said, feeling slightly disappointed. I knew my teeth had broken his skin, so I was hoping it would stay the way his had stayed on my neck.

"You don't have venom to keep the mark there. I heal too quickly."

"Well," I kissed the spot where I had previously bitten him. "When I do become a vampire, I'll have to use my venom to make it permanent."

"You do realize that if you were to become a vampire, you probably won't want to have sex anymore."

"I don't believe that's true," I disagreed. "I can't imagine ever not wanting you. You'll just have to change your diet again, so you'll be mostly vampire. We can drink blood, and fuck, and do that mating thing for the rest of forever."

He laughed once. "All you're going to want to do is drink blood. That's what Eleazar was telling me when we were discussing newborn vampires."

"You discussed changing me with him?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah. I worried I may bite you wrong and end up turning you, but I wasn't sure what it would be like for you. I mean, eventually you should be turned so we can stay together, and I suppose with this place we can stay relatively safe from the creature hunters, so I was curious how it all worked."

"Well, what did Eleazar say about it?"

"Basically, the first few years after the change are pretty intense, and his argument for vampires being asexual was pretty convincing."

"Asexual?" I asked, slightly dumbfounded. "That's what he said? It doesn't even make sense. Clearly your dad wanted to have sex since you're here."

"What does me being here have anything to do with my father wanting sex?" he asked confused.

"Um, because that's how babies are made."

The look of confusion on his face only doubled.

"When the man climaxes, he ejaculates sperm, which then travels inside the woman to reach her egg," I explained. "How do you not know this? In all the books you read over the years, none of them described conception?"

He shook his head no. "Your mother never gave me any books on biology. I do remember some novels mentioning sex, and I've seen the shows where the actors get naked under the blankets, but I never understood any of it until you showed me. I mean, I knew I grew inside my mother, I just never thought to question how I got in there. I guess that's just stupidity on my part."

"You're not stupid in the slightest, you're just uneducated on certain things."

"So, does this mean you're going to have a baby now? We have been having a lot of sex, so…?"

"No," I said without hesitation. "Remember I told you that I dated a boy last year? Well, I never had sex with him, but the idea of the possibility of it freaked my dad out, so he forced me to get on birth control. I was never very good at remembering things, so he insisted that I take the injection, and I've been taking it every three months ever since. But now that I'm thinking about it, I should probably ask Eleazar if he can get me some other forms of birth control from the black market or something. I'm probably due for another shot soon, and I certainly don't want to get pregnant right now."

"Yeah, having a baby would be bad. It was the reason my parents were captured, so that's the last thing we should worry about right now."

"I'm pretty sure I'm covered for another couple weeks or so, but then I'm going to really need something else to prevent pregnancy. But, back to the idea of asexual vampires, it just doesn't make sense, given the fact that your father had to have sex with your mother in order for you to exist."

Edward thought about it, and then shook his head. "Eleazar did say that my dad was altered due to the concoctions he took. He must have had just enough human cells in his system for him to be interested in sex again. Eleazar told me it's not totally unheard of for vampires to engage in some sexual activity, but it's not very common. He said it feels no better than a human kissing their grandma – whatever the hell that means. He said it's boring, and most have no interest."

"Oh… well, that's going to suck."

Edward shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think it will. I never wanted to have sex before I went on the human diet, so after you're turned, I'll become more vampire again, and we will just mate all the time. That felt pretty amazing too. We probably won't even miss sex."

I sighed. "I guess so. But in the meantime, we are going to keep fucking as much as possible," I said eagerly, before climbing back on top of him, and making sure we put our human hormones to good use while we still had them.

The idea of never wanting sex again after I was turned into a vampire was definitely off-putting, but I was relieved to know Edward and I were both on the same page - I would eventually join him in immortality. We wanted to stay together forever, and that was an amazing feeling. I had no human life left to return to anyway, so as soon as his family was rescued, I would become a vampire. It was both exciting and terrifying at the same time, but I was beyond confident that it was the right path for my existence.

…

After feeling sexually satisfied for the time being, Edward and I took another shower, and then we got dressed so we could wait for Eleazar to return with more food. I was basically on cloud nine as I imagined eternity with Edward and his family, who would undoubtedly become my family too. Eleazar already felt fatherly, as I knew Carlisle would as well, and hopefully Edward's sister and mother would be welcoming also. I just felt so grateful that I not only had Edward, but we would eventually have such a large support group around us. I never had much family growing up, so it was something I could only ever dream of. However, in thinking about the possibility of a new large extended family, I couldn't help my mind drifting back to my father.

As much as I hated Charlie for his part in enslaving creatures and drugging me into ignorance, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss him. It almost felt like my dad died, in a way. It had been just the two of us for so long, and I loved him immensely, but it was based on a lie. He had lied so much that I wondered if I ever really knew him at all. Still, I missed the father I thought he was, and knowing I'd never see him again was painful.

"Hey, are you okay?" Edward asked while rubbing my arm tenderly.

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something," I said with a forced smile as I quickly wiped the moisture from my cheek.

"You miss your father," Edward stated, having read my thoughts from our touch.

"It's stupid. He's not a good person. All the horrible things he did to you, and the memories he stole from me…"

"He's still your father," he said compassionately. "Of course, I wouldn't hesitate to kill him if given the chance, but I understand why you have mixed emotions."

I laughed despite myself. "Hopefully my absence from the rest of his life is punishment enough, and we can avoid you killing him."

Edward shrugged with indifference. "Either way."

I smiled at him, and shook my head. He was lucky I loved him so much.

Eleazar arrived sometime later, and he brought with him good news. "I have managed to pull together ten thousand American dollars," he said excitedly.

"That's great," I told him.

"But nowhere near enough," Edward cut in. "It might possibly get us in the door, but it won't allow us into any of the auctions. Without going to an auction, we can't buy a monster, and without owning a monster, we won't be able to get into the holding cells, which means we can't get anywhere near my family. If we don't find a significantly greater amount of money, we have nothing. Unless…."

"Unless what?" I asked when he paused, seemingly lost in thought.

"Unless we are thinking about all of this completely wrong. Maybe I shouldn't be trying to become more human, maybe I should do the exact opposite. You could be the owner, and I could be your monster. The ten thousand may be enough to pay the fee for the fighter entry into a tournament. If we can even get just one of them out, they can help us figure out where to go from there."

"So, you're saying you think you should fight?" I asked, with my stomach suddenly clinching in a tight ball.

"It would get us in to the holding cells."

"You're the one who told me there are dozens of tournaments, and we have no idea which ones your family members will be at. If you enter a fight, and they aren't even there, you'll still be forced to fight."

"Then I fight, and win, which would get us more money, and then we move on to the next one, and then the next. I don't see any other way to do it."

"You could get killed," I said in a panic.

"That's been a risk this entire time. But I'm not worried about losing a match. I know how to handle myself against all different types of creatures. I've never lost."

"It only takes losing once for you to be killed," I argued. "There has to be another way."

"I agree with Bella," Eleazar interjected. "You just escaped the fighting ring, it's too risky putting you back in. Besides, a new vampire entry would be heavily scrutinized amongst the higher ups. They would figure out that you belong to a different owner, which would only put Bella in danger. And most importantly, Carlisle would never forgive me for taking such a risk with his child. I will not allow you to use this ten thousand dollars in such a way. If the only way to do this is to have a monster fighter, I will be that monster."

"Eleazar, you're no fighter," Edward argued. "You would certainly get yourself killed quickly, which wouldn't help anyone."

Eleazar wanted to argue, but he knew Edward was right, and Edward knew Eleazar was right too. Neither of them could enter a tournament, it would only end badly for all of us.

Edward and Eleazar began discussing different possibilities, but I was feeling antsy, so I started pacing. I happened to open a drawer in the kitchen for some unknown reason, and was surprised to see that it was full of expensive looking sunglasses.

"What are all of these?" I asked Eleazar.

"A vampire's eyesight is so much stronger than humans, so the sun can be a little too bright, which is why most vampires stick to the shadows. Living in such a bright area, we just always kept those glasses handy," he explained.

"These are really nice. We could make some good money on these," I suggested. There were newish expensive glasses in there, as well as classic ones that collectors may be interested in. In our situation, every dollar counted, so it was worth a try.

"I do know some black-market dealers who could be interested. I will bring them to him this afternoon," Eleazar told me.

I nodded, and then continued browsing the eclectic trinkets and artwork that I was just beginning to discover around the main living space in the house, but that was when I noticed something.

"Is this a print?" I asked of the framed picture lying against the wall in the hall. It wasn't hanging, but it definitely had at some point.

"A friend of mine found that in Paris some years ago. Apparently is was just sitting in a dumpster, so he took it with him. I thought Carlisle would like it, so I hung it there on the wall for him to see whenever he finally came home, but I took it down after the last storm caused a leak. Why do you ask?"

"Your friend just found this in a dumpster?" I asked surprised.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked me curiously.

"I took an art history class last year in school, and this painting was in one of my lessons. Apparently it was stolen from some French museum. It's a Picasso. The name of it is something to do with a pigeon, or something. I'm ninety percent sure this is just one of those textured 3D prints, but maybe we should get it checked out. Even a print of this quality could bring in some good money."

"I do have some connections who may be able to find a buyer," Eleazar said. "I'm going to take a picture, and then see what he thinks."

"You have a phone?" I asked surprised as he pulled one out of his pocket. "Can you look on the internet to see how the search for me is going? I'm sure they have no leads, but just in case it would be good to stay on top of it."

"There is no service here, but I will check for you when I get back to the mainland."

"Maybe we should go with you," Edward suggested. "Getting off this island for a couple hours would be good for us. We could also pick out some stuff at the store to bring back here."

"That's a good idea," I agreed. Eleazar had brought food back for us, and I was grateful, but I really wanted to pick out some snacks, and maybe even check the internet myself, for any information on my "disappearance". I was beyond curious as to what my father was saying in the news, however, I also knew it was a risk. If we were going into a public area, we would need to keep a low profile. So, Edward and I each took a pair of the sunglasses, and put on hats we found in one of the closets. Once we were onshore, we headed to the closest market, but it wasn't long before I started feeling like we were being followed…


	20. Trust

**Chapter 20 – Trust**

"Edward, I think someone is following us," I whispered as we browsed the fruit in the outdoor market.

Without looking up at me, Edward quietly replied, "I know. Just keep acting normal."

My heart sped nervously, but I did as Edward instructed, and continued putting items in my handbasket.

When we had what we wanted, we paid for our things with the money Eleazar gave us, and then we walked away at the quickest, most inconspicuous pace possible. We headed back in the direction of the harbor, but instead of going to Eleazar's boat like I was expecting, we turned down an alleyway, and through our linked fingers, Edward telepathically told me to _stay calm_.

"Edward, no," I tried telling him when I mentally saw his aggressive intentions, but it was too late.

The moment we were away from the crowd, Edward spun around us and growled viciously at whoever had been following us. "Who are you?"

Our wide-eyed young follower immediately threw up his hands in surrender. "I mean no offense," he said in perfect American accented English.

"Why are you following us?" Edward roared.

"You're not human, are you?" the boy asked knowingly.

"Neither are you," Edward retorted with his eyes blazing. His entire body tensed in readiness to attack the kid.

I placed my hand on Edward's arm, and through him I could sense his recognition of the teen's scent, and suddenly I was the one seeing red.

"You're a shape-shifter!" I hissed, and automatically took a step forward, as if I was going to seek revenge on the boy for my mother's murder. It didn't matter that the kid was probably a toddler at the time of her death, he was the same type of creature who killed her, and I was pissed.

"Whoa now," Edward said, grabbing me from behind so I couldn't advance on the creature. We had seemingly switched places, and I was now the aggressor, and Edward was the one trying to keep the peace. It was all very strange, and a little disorienting.

"Edward, let me go!" I growled at him.

"I promise you, this kid had nothing to do with what happened to your mother," Edward told me in a hushed rush as his arms wrapped around me tenderly, but securely.

"Why are you following us!" I yelled at him. Edward loosened his grip on me, but I refused to get behind him like I knew he wanted me to. This shape-shifter may not have killed my mother, but I knew his kind were mortal enemies with vampires, and I was going to protect Edward, even if it cost me my life.

The boy raised his hands even higher in a defensive way. "Please, I'm just looking for help. I promise, I don't want to fight."

"What makes you think we would ever help you?" I snarled at him.

"Alright, just calm down!" Edward told me, and then he not so subtly, pulled me behind him with gentle but stern force. "I'm the immortal monster, not you," he reminded me.

"Yeah, but if he wants to kill you, he's going to have to go through me first," I said as aggressively as possible.

"I don't want to kill anyone," the boy interjected.

"He couldn't kill me even if he tried. I know how to handle shape-shifters," Edward assured me.

"I've killed my fair share of vampires too," the boy argued. "But I'm not here for that."

"What are you here for then?" I snapped at him.

"Look, my imprint got captured by some group of humans in weird uniforms with strange powerful weapons. I'm just looking for help rescuing her."

Edward and I glanced at each other. "The creature hunters," I told him, which he responded to with a nod. "But again, why would we help you?" I asked the shape-shifter.

"Look, I don't know you, I don't even know what kind of creatures you are, I'm just desperate. I've been searching for help for over five years now. The truth is, I've been watching that vampire that works at the boat place, and I was getting ready to approach him, but then I saw you two. You smell sort of like vampires, but… different. What are you?"

"None of your business," I told him. "You approached us, so you can just keep explaining yourself until we are comfortable enough to even consider telling you anything."

"Bella," Edward said while gesturing for me to relax and take a step back.

I scowled at him, but otherwise grudgingly agreed to give him a chance to speak.

"This group, the creature hunters, as you just called them, they are intense, and I know I can't break in their headquarters alone," the shifter explained in a rush. "I have tried so many times to find a way to save her, but it's impossible. So, I've been running for a long time, trying to find anyone willing to help me. Years ago my family and I used to hunt vampires, so when I first caught the scent of the boat guy, I naturally thought I needed to attack him. But it was the first vampire I had come across in decades, and as I watched him, waiting for an opportunity to strike without human witnesses, I realized that maybe he was different. He never seemed dangerous, and he was even friendly with humans, so I thought he might be able to help me. But then I saw him with you two, and I'm thinking maybe you could potentially be better allies. Please, I'm willing to do anything."

"You said you've been looking for help for five years?" I asked as I considered his request. "How old are you? You don't look a day over fifteen."

"I'm fifty seven," he replied, absolutely flabbergasting me. "I stopped aging at sixteen when I first started phasing."

"What's phasing mean?" I asked confused.

"It's when he shape-shifts," Edward told me.

Jacob nodded once. "As he said. Phasing is when I change into my wolf form."

"Is a wolf the only thing you can change into?" Edward asked with far more eager curiosity than I would have expected.

"It's all I've ever turned into. My family all turns into wolves…Wait, should I be able to turn into something else?"

"Shifters mostly turn into wolves when battling vampires, because of vampire's natural opposition to werewolves," Edward informed him. "It's like they think that form frightens us or something. But the shifter that killed her mother was able to turn into basically any animal or beast he wanted, as long as it was within a relatively similar size."

"A shifter killed your mother," he asked me, becoming uneasy. "I don't know anything about that."

"Relax, pup," Edward told him. "We aren't stupid enough to think all shifters are related."

The shifter nodded. "Well, I never knew anyone who could shift into different animals… Wait, could that shifter phase into like a table, or something?"

Edward shook his head no. "Only living creatures of a similar size."

"Huh," the shifter pondered. "I wonder if I'm capable of something like that too."

Suddenly a couple humans passed the alley way, and looked down at us.

"We need to take this discussion to a more private location," Edward suggested as a homeless man began hobbling his way towards us. "We are staying on an island if you…."

"Edward!" I hissed at him. I grabbed his arm and pulled him away to scold him more privately. "I know you're not used to being out in the real world, but you don't just invite strangers to your home like that, especially monster strangers. We don't know this guy. He could be lying, or have ulterior motives. If he double crosses us, he could lead the creature hunters right back there, and we will never have a safe place to hide."

"You think he's lying?"

"I think it's a possibility. Why would we help him anyway? He is like a mortal enemy to vampires."

"An enemy with a common foe," Edward pointed out. "He is trying to do the same thing we are – free family. We don't have to be super comfortable with it, but it makes sense to work together. At least the kid can fight."

"Kid? He just said he's fifty seven!"

Edward shrugged. "I'm like eighty something. What does his actual age have to do with anything? You're more of an adult than I am, and you're only seventeen."

"True," I conceded. "But we still don't know if we can trust him."

"Look, with me mostly human right now, we could use a little more super strength on our side in case we run into trouble."

"We have Eleazar," I argued.

"Eleazar isn't a fighter. He has survived this long because he blends in well with humans and keeps a low profile. He's smart, but that's all he can really contribute to all of this. Having a shifter could really help."

"Or backfire and get us killed."

Edward sighed as he considered what I was saying, but then something occurred to him. "Doesn't Eleazar have some kind of super gift for detecting deceit? Let's take him to him, and see how honest he's being."

"Why are you so intent on helping him?"

"Because I know how it feels to be separated from my family, and I know there isn't a single creature in those tournaments that wants to be there. We have a common enemy, and that is all the reason we need to keep the peace for the time being."

I took a deep breath, and then nodded. "Okay, let's take him to Eleazar. If Eleazar says he's telling the truth, we bring him in as a _temporary_ ally."

Edward smirked and shook his head. "Shouldn't I be the one not trusting the shifter? I mean, I love that you want to avenge your mother, but I'm the vampire, not you."

"It's not just wanting to avenge my mother. You're my life now, and I don't feel comfortable around any creature that may want to hurt you."

"I'm going to be fine. With all the dangers ahead of us, this one young shifter is not a threat. Trust me, this alliance will be for our benefit. I know it will."

"Well, you better be right."

I felt a strong sense of unease as the shifter followed us to Eleazar's shop, but the moment we walked inside, the excitement on Eleazar's face shadowed everything else. "I sold two more of my properties. We now have five hundred thousand dollars."

"Well, that's a start," Edward told him.

"What about the painting?" I asked eagerly.

"I'm still waiting to hear back from my associate about that. But I did sell a few of the older sunglasses. About five thousand from that so far."

I nodded. "Every bit is going to help."

"That is my thought," Eleazar agreed, and then he looked passed me and noticed the boy loitering there. "Who is this?"

"Sir, my name is Jacob Black," the shifter stepped forward to introduce himself. "My imprint was captured by the creature hunters, and I'm looking for help rescuing her."

"What does imprint mean anyway?" I interrupted, needing an explanation before the conversation continued.

"It's their version of mates," Eleazar explained before turning back to the shifter. "You have been watching me for several days now. I was wondering when you were planning to finally make contact. I see you met my newest family members here."

"Yes, sir. I just want you to know I mean none of you any harm or offense. I'm aware we are natural enemies, which is why I know this will be an uneasy alliance, but I'm willing to do absolutely anything for your assistance."

Eleazar narrowed his eyes at him. "We too are trying to breach the tournament ring."

"Tournament ring?" Jacob asked confused.

"That is what happens to creatures who are captured," Edward told him. "They are sold to the highest bidder, and then forced to fight in huge underground monster tournaments. There is a good chance your imprint is already dead."

A sickened look swept across the boy's features, and that was the moment I felt like we could trust him. He wasn't lying to us, he legitimately needed our help, and despite knowing he was an opposing species from Edward, I wanted to help him. As the daughter of one of the monster owners, I felt a huge sense of guilt and remorse to all the creatures being hurt by the tournaments. It wasn't just the creatures fighting for their lives on the inside, it was their loved ones fighting to free them as well. There were so many victims of that horrible practice, and I felt compelled to do something about it.

"We will help you," I told him, causing both Edward and Eleazar to look at me surprised. "Unless, of course, you sense deceit?" I asked Eleazar.

"He is being honest," Eleazar confirmed what I already sensed. "But having a shifter close to us may pose a problem when we free Carlisle and the others. I'm assuming they've been beaten down to their primal states at this point; we may not be able to stop them from attacking the shifter as their instincts would have them do."

"That's a risk with Bella as well," Edward agreed. "They're going to try to attack her just because she's human. We will need to figure out a way to restrain them until they regain control of themselves."

"I'm just not sure how we can overpower any of them," Eleazar worried. "My strength is dulled due to my all animal blood diet, and you are mostly human at this point."

"So, you guys are trying to free vamps," Jacob jumped in. "Listen, despite being natural enemies, I am strong enough to restrain a vamp, or at least, help. Between the three of us, we should be able to control one at a time."

"And you wouldn't attempt to kill any of them?" Edward questioned.

"I'm true to my word. Like I said, I'm willing to do anything to help find my imprint. If that means subduing a hostile vamp without killing it, I will figure it out."

Eleazar, Edward, and I, all glanced at each other, and we nodded in a subtle agreement.

"You have yourself some allies," Edward told Jacob, before grabbing the shifter's fingers, and wiggling them back and forth erratically, which only confused the boy. "This is called a handshake," Edward explained, confused as to why Jacob was confused.

I laughed, realizing that I never corrected him on his version of a handshake. "He was imprisoned for a long time," I explained vaguely.

Jacob nodded through his befuddlement, and then we took a huge risk by bringing him back to the private sanctuary of our island, to further discuss everything.

Once we got there, we quickly showed Jacob around, and then we immediately jumped into strategizing.

"So, Jacob will be our monster entry for the tournaments," I assumed.

"Whoa, no way," Edward disagreed unexpectedly.

"Why not? I thought that was the point to bringing him in?" I questioned.

Edward shook his head no. "He can help with the planning and restraining my family when we get them out, but I'm not going to subject anyone else to those fights."

"But I thought we agreed that was the best way to get in? You were okay with buying a fighter before, so now we don't have to."

"Buying a fighter that's already been fighting, is different than putting someone new into the circuit. If it goes wrong, he will be stuck there for the rest of his life."

"I'm willing to take that risk if that's what it takes," Jacob interjected.

"This could be our only way in," Eleazar agreed.

Edward huffed. "If we enter him into a tournament, he will have to fight. We won't be able to pull him out last minute. If one of my family members, or even his imprint, is there, he will likely have to face them, and one will die. The best way to get them out is to buy our way in, and purchase a fighter we can sacrifice if necessary."

"I don't want to sacrifice anyone," I argued heatedly. "Everyone imprisoned there are victims of people like my family. All of their lives matter."

"I understand what you're saying, but there are some monsters that need to be contained. Some are nothing but pure evil. I don't agree with what they're doing, but they aren't wrong to imprison certain ones. That's the type of demon or monster we need to buy."

"Hopefully my other properties will sell soon, and we can get a black market buyer for the painting print," Eleazar said with a sigh.

"In the meantime, we need to come up with a solid plan, and then several backup plans in case it doesn't work," I told them.

"I think we can all agree to that," Eleazar said, and then he turned to Jacob. "Where was your mate captured? It's likely she isn't still in the same area, but the closest owner may have documents of her purchase."

"There was a raid on our pack about a decade ago. Leah and I barely escaped, and we had been living in the Sierra Nevada mountains ever since. We had a cabin out there, but times were hard so we were hunting in our wolf forms when the creature hunters caught up to us. I was trying to distract them so Leah could escape, but I was captured. We can communicate telepathically, so I told Leah to run for it, but she refused to go. She got between me and the man who had me, and I fell away from them, and she was grabbed. I recovered myself and went back at them, but by then she had four men on her, and she begged me to go. It was the hardest thing I ever did."

"So, she wouldn't leave you, but you left her?" Edward asked incredulously.

"There was no way I could get her free at that point. She was being electrocuted by some terrible gun thing, and we both knew I couldn't free her if I was imprisoned too. So, I left to find help. I've been searching for someone to help me for so long. Any non-human creature I found was too aggressive, or too scared to even listen to me, until I saw Eleazar. He seemed calm and friendly, so I hoped. Then I came across you two today, and I was curious. You still haven't said what exactly you guys are."

"I'm human, and he is a vampire-human hybrid," I told him.

"Vampire-human hybrid? I didn't even know that was possible."

"It's not, technically," Eleazar jumped in. "We have concluded that Edward is the result of decades upon decades worth of experiments."

Jacob nodded absently while looking confused, and then he shrugged. "Cool, I guess. But you're only human?" he asked me. "That's weird. You two smell similar …well, now you smell human. I guess I was just smelling him on you. Are you guys like, a couple, or something?"

"We're mates," I told him, and had to fight off the unintentional smile that resulted from just saying our official status.

"Mates? That's weird for a human, right?" Jacob questioned. "I mean, as a kid, I was taught by my pack elders all about vampires, and I never heard of such a thing."

"Why were you taught about vampires?" I asked perplexed.

"Best way to defeat your enemy is to know everything about them," he told me with a pompous wink. "But in all of my studies, there was never anything about vampires mating with humans "

"Edward's entire existence is an anomaly," Eleazar agreed. "There is no precedent for this, so I would say him mating with a human is not the most surprising aspect of him."

Jacob considered it for a moment, and then shrugged with indifference.

The conversation soon morphed into Edward's knowledge of the tournaments, and what could have possibly happened to Jacob's imprint, as well as the rest of his imprisoned pack members. As much as he missed his extended family, the shifter's main concern was finding his imprint, so that was what we would focus on for him as well.

We wanted to come up with several solid ideas on how to proceed with the rescue missions, but unfortunately, everything we came up with depended on a large amount of money, so for the time being, we were pretty much stuck.

The hour grew late, and it was clear to me that Jacob was almost as tired as I was, so I offered him one of the five bedrooms in the house to sleep in.

"That would be awesome, thank you," he said to me graciously.

"Sure, just don't attack us in our sleep," I told him with a laugh.

"I have no reason to turn against any of you," Jacob tried assuring me as he followed me towards the room he would be using. Edward and Eleazar were still in deep discussion about various topics, so I didn't want to disrupt them, but I did feel a little awkward about being somewhat alone with the shifter, despite his attempt to put me at ease. "The entire reason for my existence is to protect humans, and as far as I can tell, neither of those two vamps are a threat to humans, so we're good."

I nodded. "Good, because I'd hate for Edward to have to kill you. I've seen him fight, and trust me, you wouldn't win."

"But you've never seen me fight. Trust me, I'd be just fine against any vampire or hybrid."

I wasn't going to waste my time arguing with him, so I just shook my head and let it go. "Sorry there isn't a bed, but I think there might be a blanket in the closet there if you'd like."

"Hey, this is like the Ritz compared to where I've been sleeping."

"Where have you been sleeping?" I asked out of pure curiosity.

"Eh, the forest, the streets, the dumps. Basically anywhere that I am when I get tired."

"Well… I'm glad we could accommodate you," I said, having a hard time containing my weird, underlying, disdain for the creature.

"Listen, if I make you uncomfortable, I can go sleep on the beach. It's really not a big deal either way."

"It's fine, I have no issue with you," I lied.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a bad liar?" he called me out.

I gritted my teeth and forced out a smile, but quickly realized it was pointless. "Okay, you do make me uncomfortable, but only because of what you are. I'm team vampire here, no offense. But I am happy to help you and have you here. It's the least I can do, considering the part my family has had in imprisoning creatures," I said honestly.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I sleep hard, so once I'm out, you won't have to worry about me again until morning."

"That sounds dangerous for you. What happens if trouble arises while you're sleeping?"

"I haven't had a problem thus far," he replied unconcerned.

I shook my head again, and then left him alone to sleep. I rounded the corner of the hall to return to the living room, but then I practically ran right into a very disturbed looking Edward.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked him as I reached for his arm, but he pulled away so I couldn't touch him. "What happened?"

"Nothing," he said bitterly before turning away and sulking back to the living room. I followed him, and noticed that Eleazar had left.

"Did he say something that upset you?" I asked concerned.

"No, he went back to his boat for the night. He said the shifter's stench was giving him a migraine. I guess I'm lucky that my senses are currently dulled."

"Why are you so upset?" I asked frustrated.

"Did you just do sex with that shifter?"

I stared at him blankly for a moment, and then I laughed.

"Why do you find this funny?" he grumbled.

"Are you being serious right now?" I asked unsure. "You can't be. Never-mind the fact that I'm _your_ mate, but I just met him, and we were only out of your sight for like two minutes."

"The mating bond has nothing to do with sex, and you told me before that some people have sex with strangers, and we both know it's possible to do quick sex in less than two minutes."

I didn't know whether I should laugh harder, or be seriously pissed. His ignorance on all things was frustrating at times, but at that particular time, it was beyond irritating.

"Okay, some people do have sex with strangers, but I'm not one of those people!" I said heatedly. "I'm with _you_. We agreed we would stay together forever, and that means not being with anyone else in that way. And you better not fuck around with other people either, or you'll wish you never met me."

He raised his brows at me in surprise by my outburst, then he smirked. "So, you don't want to ever do sex with anybody else? Ever? Because even just thinking about someone else touching you like that makes my stomach feel like it's being shredded apart by the claws of a hell-demon…which sucks."

I nodded, and smiled despite myself. "That does sound like it would suck. Lucky for you, there is no sense in you thinking about that anymore, because I promise you, it will never happen." I closed the distance between us, and locked my arms behind his neck. "I'm yours in every way, but I need you to trust me. I trust you with my life, the least you can do is trust me with my vagina."

His hesitant smirk spread into a muffled chuckle.

"Did you just laugh?" I asked him in shock. "Wow, and here I thought you were incapable of such a thing."

"Eh," he said playfully with a shrug. "You're hard not to laugh at."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"You should," he said before leaning down and kissing me tenderly. It started out as a sweet, loving kiss, but morphed into our frenzied passion yet again. We decided to move our makeshift bed into one of the empty bedrooms for a little more privacy, and then we carried on throughout the night.

…

We spent the next couple of days getting better acquainted with the shifter, and trying to form some type of comradeship with him. He tried convincing Edward he was more than willing to risk his life and enter the tournaments for us, but Edward kept refusing.

"It's too big of a risk, there has to be another way," Edward kept telling him.

But then, as if by some miracle, Eleazar came rushing back to the house yelling something about the Picasso. It took him a good three minutes to settle down enough for us to understand him.

"It's not a print. The Picasso is real, and a collector just offered me twenty eight million dollars for it!"

All of our mouths dropped open in unison. The pieces were finally falling into place. It was time to free Edward's family…


	21. Plan A

**Chapter 21 – Plan A**

"Are you ready for this?"

I laughed once. "Are _you_ ready for this? I've been to one of these before."

"So have I," Edward retorted with that irresistible crooked smile that always made my heart flutter.

"But you've never attended as a spectator," I pointed out. "And there is so much on the line tonight."

The stretch hummer limo we were in hit a hard bump that caused me to fall into Edward's lap, which was a win-win for me. I loved being close to him, but more importantly, through the contact of our skin, I could sense just how calm he was. Excited, and eager, but not scared. His confidence was definitely contagious.

"This will be simple," Edward said doubtlessly. "We have a solid plan, and a plan B, C, D, and E. We've got this."

I nodded in agreement, and leaned in to him as he rubbed my bare thigh affectionately. A wave of inconvenient arousal washed over me, so Edward promptly kissed my temple, but otherwise pulled his hand away. Unfortunately, we both knew there was no time for that, we needed to stay focused.

"Tell me again how different I look," I requested as we neared our intended location.

"You look completely different," he confirmed. "Even if your missing person's picture is plastered on the walls, no one will recognize you."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely. The new awful chemical scent and strange yellow hue of your hair looks entirely unnatural for any human or beast, but it seems to be common amongst women in this era. The dark painted circles around your eyes make you look ill, or perhaps like some odd cartoon character, but that too seems to be common with females nowadays as well. And your dress looks like you wrapped a black net around you haphazardly, but I'm just glad it's not as see-through as it appears. I wouldn't want everyone seeing your body like that. Your entire look is very strange, but it does disguise you well."

I nodded absently as he described his opinion of my new look, and then just told him, "Thanks."

It wasn't exactly the response a girl would want to get from her boyfriend about her appearance for a stylish event, but Edward only knew how to be brutally honest, and I appreciated it. My new, extremely expensive, shoulder length, platinum blonde hairstyle was courtesy of the top salon in Rio. We thought it was best to change my look before re-entering the U.S. due to the search for me, but it would definitely take some getting used to. The black net haphazardly wrapped around me was actually an eight thousand dollar designer gown that Eleazar insisted we buy. These people knew fashion, and if we wanted to convincingly blend in, we had to dress the part.

Edward too, was dressed to the nines. He looked absolutely dashing in his Dior tux and perfectly coiffed hair. His very human-like facial stubble was well groomed, but long enough to be easily noticed. His Brazilian island tan completed his altered look from that of the crazed vicious vampire who kidnapped me, into the suave millionaire ready to hang with the big boys in the world of monster trading and tournaments. We both looked the part, however sounding the part, remained to be seen.

"Edward don't forget, a firm handshake is important…"

"I know."

"Look them in the eyes…"

"I know."

"And don't give away information needlessly, even false information. The less people know about us, the better."

"Babe, I know," he told me assuredly. "We went over all this two hundred and thirty seven times. You taught me everything I need to know. I'm not going to fuck this up. I promise you."

I caressed his cheek, and leaned in for a quick restrained kiss. "I know you know, I'm just reminding you. Or maybe I'm just trying to remind myself," I admitted.

Of course Edward knew what to do, he wasn't exaggerating with his number of times we rehearsed everything. There had been so much about the world of which he was ignorant, so we took three weeks between selling the Picasso painting, and the event, to teach him as much as possible. Eleazar had helped immensely with it since he knew the way vampires thought and retained information. The two of them would spend hours with linked hands, just sitting there on the ground, exchanging thoughts and information about things. They would use Edward's telepathic gift to give and receive the knowledge needed, which was sort of frustrating at times…

" _Wouldn't it be better if they just talked out-loud? You know, so we could help with our input, and whatnot?" Jacob asked confused as the hours stretched on during those thought-sharing sessions on the island._

" _Well, this way Eleazer can see what Edward may be confused about, and what else he still needs to learn," I explained._

" _Yeah, but they could be scheming vampire shit between them, and we would never know," Jacob said untrustingly._

 _I rolled my eyes. "You sleep like a log. If they didn't want you to know something like that, they would just talk about it while you're passed out."_

" _True," he agreed. "I guess I get what they're doing, but it's fucking irritating. I hate just sitting here and feeling useless. I want to know every facet of the plan, so I can think about how I'm going to react to various probabilities."_

" _They aren't working on the plan per se, Eleazar is just searching Edward's mind for things he needs to learn in order to pass himself off as human, and not raise any red flags with the other owners at the tournaments," I explained… again._

" _Yeah, but shouldn't you be doing that? I mean, you know more about humans than some crusty old vampire. You are human, and Eleazar's not, so.." he shrugged._

" _Eleazar is pretty well versed in all things human. He has seen more, and done more human things, than I could even imagine in my seventeen years on this planet. Plus, his mind works so much faster than mine, so he could search through Edward's thoughts and memories in far less time than it would take me."_

" _I guess that makes sense. I'd still like to be more involved though, or at least doing something. I hate being idle."_

" _Okay, if you really want to be involved in what they're doing, come with me," I said, having a hard time keeping the mischievous smirk off my face._

 _I led the shifter to where the two vampires were sitting in the living room, and without disrupting them, I placed Jacob's hand on Edward's arm. Jacob's eyes immediately went blank, and after about thirty seconds or so, he ripped his hand away and looked at me with horror._

" _Edward's mind is a dark and scary place," he said slowly._

 _My brows raised and my smile widened. "See? I told you it was better to leave it to them."_

 _Jacob shuddered. "Yeah, I'll never do that again. I think I'm going to go out to the beach and try my hand at fishing. You want to come?"_

" _No thanks, I just want to hang in here. Hopefully they will be done soon."_

" _Suit yourself," he said, before heading out. He stopped at the door, only to turn back with a disturbed expression as he glanced at the two almost catatonic vampires. He shuddered one more time, before disappearing outside._

…

"Looks like we're here," Edward told me, bringing my attention back to the present where I needed to remain focused. "Just breathe, baby. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he told me with a gentle caress of my cheek. He offered one sweet kiss before the door was opened for us by a very professional looking Eleazar, who was acting as our driver. It was a risk having him that close to so many creature hunters, but as long as he stayed with the car, kept his hat on and his head down, we figured he'd be okay. We would desperately need his assistance securing any newly freed vampire, so it was important for him to be there.

Edward got out first, and gave me his hand to help me out. A sudden flash made my eyes reflexively blink, and it took a couple seconds for my sight to come back. When I could see clearly again, I was absolutely floored by the sight before me.

"What the ever loving fuck?" I mumbled as Edward wrapped his arm around the small of my back, and led me through the flashing lights, down the red carpet.

"Some of these events are a little more…flashy," Edward explained quietly. He then mentally showed me a memory of him being carted down a red carpet in a mobile electrified cage as photographers snapped pictures and _ooh'd_ and _aww'd_ at the sight of the unique and wondrous hybrid.

"This is pretty sickening," I told him.

"Just smile for the cameras and try to not look affected," he instructed.

"What do they do with the pictures?" I asked concerned.

"As far as I know, they just print them out as souvenirs."

"Or use them to find out our real identities," I said concerned.

"Well, by the time they go through all of them, we will be long gone. Either way, we can't turn back now," he said determinedly.

I nodded with agreement.

There was sudden commotion coming from behind us, which made me jump. We both turned and to my utter disgust, a parade of creature filled cages were making their way down the red carpet, just like in Edward's vision.

"Just stay calm," Edward warned me.

Like all the others walking the carpet, we moved to the side and watched the monster procession as it passed.

"How do they get away with this in such a public area?" I asked, thinking of how secretive and private the tournament at Swan Manor seemed to be.

"Didn't you tell me how LA is the land of movie stars?" Edward asked. I nodded, so he continued. "They probably just assume this will blend in with all the other big Hollywood parties, and the public wouldn't even question it. They can parade the real creatures down this public street, and just tell any passerby they're for a movie."

"Wow," I responded. "I bet you're exactly right. These pompous assholes probably never even consider being exposed for what they are really doing here."

"Most humans don't want to know the truth about the supernatural. They're too scared, so they make excuses in their minds for everything they see. Even the ones that want to believe, carry a level of fear that just won't allow it."

Our conversation was cut off when a particularly loud creature was wheeled passed us. The horned beast kept growling and snarling at all the spectators, and it was so deep that it echoed off the nearby buildings. There was no way regular people in the area didn't hear it, but as Edward said, they probably just dismissed it as some loud movie, or some other event happening. People were so stupid.

A few more creatures were rolled past, and then my stomach sank.

"He's not here," I said in a slight panic when the last cage came and went without a single vampire amongst them.

"Well, at the very least, we go in and buy a monster in the auction as planned."

I nodded once, and then steeled myself to endure more tortuous photographs before we could finally make our way inside.

We took our seats in the giant underground arena, which was about ten stories below one of the big theaters where they held the ritzy movie premieres. And like the ritzy theater above, that arena was much fancier than the one I had seen below my home. The ornately sculpted walls and ceiling were gothic and creepy, but they were also breathtakingly beautiful. The seats we were in were more comfortable than any Lazyboy I had ever sat in before, and even the floors seemed spotless and appeared to be made of marble. It was all so grand, and all so sickening for such a horrid event. I doubted the creatures were treated with even a fraction of all this comfort.

All too soon, the lights flickered, and everyone stopped schmoozing with those around them so they could all take their seats. The first fight commenced, and I found myself gritting my teeth as I forced my eyes to watch. The horned beast I took notice of outside, was up against a big, creepy, fanged, bat like creature, that flew around the caged ring. It kept attacking the beast with its razor sharp claws as it flew past. At one point, the beast yanked the bat like creature from the air and attempted to rip its head off. Just when I thought it was over for the bat, it spit some kind of acidic goo in the beast's eyes, before ripping its throat out with its claws.

I shuddered at the horrific sight of the beast's blood squirting all over the lower level of the arena. It was almost too much to bear, so I had to keep reminding myself why we were there in order to keep from running out of the room. It truly was that disturbing.

As difficult as it was for me to witness, I knew it had to be so much worse for Edward. However, when I glanced over at him, I was surprised to see his apparent interest, and all around calm demeanor.

He must have sensed my discomfort and concern for him, so he casually placed his hand over mine in my lap, and silently reassured me that everything was fine.

Two more battles followed. First, a lizard-like humanoid that looked like it crawled right out of the black lagoon, fought against a cyclops with a mucus problem. The cyclops quickly overpowered the lizard and won that battle. And then it was werewolf versus werewolf, which made it hard to keep track of which one was ultimately victorious.

The last fight was labeled as the evening's main event. I had no idea what type of monsters could possibly be more impressive than the ones we had already seen, but then a familiar face was brought in.

"Emmett!" I nearly squealed.

"Shh!" Edward warned me.

Emmett had been the reason we came to this particular tournament. We knew from my flash drive that he was owned by someone in this area, but when we didn't see him on the red carpet, I lost hope he was there.

"He was probably too unruly to be paraded," Edward mumbled, responding to my thoughts.

My stomach twisted nervously as a giant, with electric bolts running along his limbs, was brought in to face him. High electrical currents were definitely a weakness for vampires, so of course it was cause for concern. Edward, on the other hand, still wasn't troubled. In his eyes, Emmett was unbeatable, and his current foe was no different.

Emmett looked exactly the same as he did in Edward's memories. Of course, vampires didn't age, so I wasn't sure why his unchanging appearance surprised me so much.

"God dammit, this fucker stings!" Emmett abruptly roared as he tangled with the electric giant, making the crowd chuckle. I surprised myself by cracking a smile as well, but Edward remained completely serious. Unconcerned, but still serious.

About ten minutes or so into the battle, Emmett was getting irritated by being shocked repeatedly, and it seemed he had enough. He growled, pounded his own chest as if he was psyching himself up, and then he roared as he charged his foe. He must have used all his might to fight through the pain long enough to strangle the giant, and ultimately emerge victorious.

The crowd loved it, of course, but despite being relieved Emmett was okay, neither Edward nor I relished in the death of any creature.

"Time for the auction," Edward told me evenly.

"Let's get it over with," I agreed.

We followed the crowd to a ballroom where tables were set up with a stage in the far end of the room. We were shown to our seats, and because we had pre-registered as likely purchasers, we got positioned close to the stage.

The dinner they served us was delicious. The people at our table were friendly and talkative, and I was so proud of Edward as I watched him give his first real firm handshake to a stranger. We had worked on that one quite often in the last few weeks, but that was the first time he was able to try it out on someone other than me and Jacob.

Edward seamlessly blended in with the humans, and never missed a beat when conversing about anything people would talk to him about. Whatever work Eleazar did inside his mind, must have been a total success. No one could ever suspect he was anything but human, yet imprisoned for decades, he was absolutely amazing.

When the auction began, we waited as they sold off some smaller monsters first, and then the bigger, more skilled fighters were individually brought out onto the stage. Edward and I settled on one of the bigger werewolves, paying eight hundred thousand for him. It was the middle of the row purchase, which meant we would be noticed by the other owners, but not questioned about how we came into so much money. It was exactly what we had intended to do, so everything was going as planned.

Since the tournament matches lasted three days, and we were only on the first day, our werewolf was put in a holding cell amongst all the other monsters, and we were allowed to visit it.

"All the creatures are going to be snapping at you through the bars," Edward warned me.

"I know," I told him.

"I know you know, I'm just reminding you," he said with a smartass smirk that was as adorable as it was irritating.

With how ritzy everything else was in that arena, I half expected the monsters to be sitting in recliners and reading the LA Times, but as we entered the noisy, smelly, dingy prison area, my stomach twisted in painful knots.

"This is…"

"Shut it all out of your mind, Bella. We need to stay focused."

I nodded in agreement.

Everything was going to plan – up until that moment.

"We're owners," Edward told the guard, who stopped us from going any further past a second set of doors where we knew Emmet would be. He handed the man our paperwork, but the man couldn't care less.

"You only have access to this first holding block. Everything past this door is restricted," the guard informed us.

"Shit," Edward hissed under his breath. We turned away, but we were seriously screwed. Our entire plan, even plans B, C, D, and E, relied on our ability to access the area where Emmett was. In all his years of captivity, this was the first instance of owners not having complete access to the holding cells that Edward was ever aware of. We had taken that aspect of it for granted during our planning, and now we were back to square one.

There was nothing left to do but go back to our hotel for the night, and try to hash out another plan before the next day's events.

We were discouraged, but we would not be detoured. Somehow, someway, we would be leaving the LA area with Emmett….


	22. Heart Palpitations

**Chapter 22 – Heart Palpitations**

"Are you guys fucking kidding me?" Jacob spat when we reconvene at the hotel. "All the planning we did, and you never took into consideration that you may not even get into the holding cells? I thought you were supposed to be genius vampires?"

"Hey, jackass, I didn't hear you offer any clue it could happen like that either," I retorted.

"I know nothing about all this stuff," he argued. "I didn't even know there were tournaments. You guys were supposed to know, not me."

"I've been in that system most of my life, and that has never happened before," Edward told him. "I never even considered it to be a possibility, so this is on me."

"They must have changed the rules since your escape," Eleazar pondered.

"It doesn't matter if they changed the rules or not. You should have prepared for every possible situation," Jacob argued.

"Why are _you_ so upset about this?" I questioned heatedly. "It's not like your imprint was even there."

"How do you know she wasn't there? You idiots didn't even get far enough into the holding cells to know."

"What's done is done," Eleazar told us sternly. "Fighting about it is pointless, we are just wasting time. We only have two more days to figure this out, and then we will lose this opportunity."

"You're right," I agreed with him. "So, it seems the second secured holding block is where they keep the more advanced, high profile, fighters. Maybe if our werewolf wins tonight, he will get moved in there?"

Edward shook his head. "He won't win. As first-time owners, they will put our entry up against a more skilled opponent. They like their older owner families to win, as a way to keep the sport in their hands."

"Then it looks like there is no way around it. You have to put me in," Jacob decided.

"How the hell will that help?" Edward asked confused.

"A werewolf may not be able to beat whatever monster they throw at you guys, but I know I can. Put me in the fight tomorrow instead of the beast you just bought, and I will take us on a winning streak all the way into the big leagues."

"That may work," Eleazar said with a slow head nod.

"No, it won't," Edward disagreed. "We bought the werewolf. That's the fighter we entered in tomorrow's preliminary matches. We can't just change out our monster breeds. They would never allow it."

"Unless…" Eleazar started, but just stared at Jacob in some sort of unspoken conversation.

Jacob must have understood. "I think I can," he confirmed whatever the hell they were discussing.

"And hold it through the entire fight?" Eleazar asked.

Jacob nodded. "Yeah. I've been working on it."

"It's too dangerous," Edward interjected.

"Not if it's the only way," Jacob argued.

"Okay, what the hell are you three going on about?"

"I'm a shape shifter," Jacob told me with a heavy _"duh"_ tone just below his words.

"And?" I asked, still not getting it.

"I've been practicing shifting into different forms from my natural wolf. I'm pretty sure I can make myself look like the werewolf. Enter me in that form, and no one will know I'm not the monster you purchased, except for the fact that I can win. Once I do win, I'll be put into the higher fighting class, and then you would be able to get into the other cell block."

I raised my brows. "That's actually a good idea."

"No, it's not," Edward disagreed. "He only held a different form for five minutes, and that's when he was concentrating hard on it. There is no way he can hold it while fighting. It'll just distract him, and he will be killed."

"Why do you even care what happens to me anyway?" Jake retorted.

"I don't want anymore unnecessary deaths on my hands," Edward replied heatedly.

"I'm telling you I can handle it, but you're not listening."

"I'm not listening because you're wrong!"

"Why do you get to decide if I'm wrong? We all have reasons to be here, so I think we should vote on it. Eleazar what do you think?"

"I think you show promise," Eleazar said while deep in thought. "You can certainly win this bottom level fight, and then we can pull you out and put the werewolf back in. I think it's a good idea."

Edward grimaced, but Jacob smirked, before turning to me. "What about you? What's your vote?"

My stomach twisted as I considered both sides. As much as I wanted to always support Edward, Eleazar's idea of Jacob only fighting the first match, just to get us into the next cellblock, made the most sense.

"I'm sorry," I told Edward regretfully. "I just don't see any way around it."

"It's settled then!" Jacob said excitedly with a clap.

The look of betrayal swept across Edward's face as he looked at me. I mouthed ' _I'm sorry'_ , but he just shook his head and walked outside.

I tried to follow him, but he disappeared at a supernatural speed before I even made it to the door.

Eleazar followed me out as well. "Just give him some time to calm down. Rosalie was hot tempered as well. Carlisle and I would just have to give her space, and she would come back with a better attitude. The siblings are a lot alike, it seems."

"That's not him being hot tempered," I argued. "That's him feeling like I betrayed him."

It was probably one of the lowest feelings I ever experienced. Going against Edward felt like I was stabbing us both in our backs. I knew he would forgive me, but could I forgive myself? I wasn't so sure. Still, I just couldn't see a way around it, and I had to believe Edward was just being overly cautious and everything would work itself out.

For the next couple hours, Jacob used the limited space in our hotel suite to practice holding his werewolf form. Prior to meeting us, Jacob had only ever phased into a giant wolf, as did the others in his family pack. He wasn't even aware it was possible to turn into any other creature, but since Edward told him he could, he had been having far too much fun with it. Thus far, he had figured out how to turn into a jaguar, a small yeti, and Dwayne- _The Rock_ -Johnson. But like Edward had argued, he had trouble keeping the form when he lost concentration. Fighting in that night's tournament was going to be a huge challenge.

"Your lower jaw needs to be bigger," Eleazar instructed as we watched Jake practice. "You're not supposed to just look like an oversized wolf anymore. Werewolves stand upright, and the muscular structure of their torso more resembles a man's. The fur needs to look mangier."

"Didn't you look at the picture we brought you of our werewolf?" I spat as he kept trying to alter his appearance to better fit Eleazar's descriptions.

Jacob roared his response to me like an irritated Chewbacca.

"Remember, werewolves always fight with their mouths open and teeth exposed," Eleazar added, ignoring my crabby comment. "You need more drool."

"Wait, our werewolf is blonder than his fur," I pointed out. "They're going to notice that."

Jacob shook, and amazingly, his hair lightened. As bitter as I was being, it was pretty incredible to see.

Edward came back a few minutes later, and although he was still on edge and in disagreement with the plan, he gritted his teeth and stood next to me as we watched Jacob practice.

"Edward, I'm sorry," I whispered to him again.

"There is no need to be sorry," he replied quietly. "We don't have to always agree."

"Well good," Jacob butted in as he lost hold of his werewolf form. "Because she already voted, and we're doing this. You can't stop it at this point."

"You can't save stupid from stupid," Edward rebutted.

"Good, I'm glad we're in agreement. Wait…" Jacob said, confused as to if he should agree to Edward's comment or not.

"I don't see us being able to come up with another plan in such a short amount of time," Eleazar told Edward.

Edward shook his head. "It's going to fuck everything up. Just wait and see."

"It's going to be fine. I got this," Jacob disputed.

"It's going to be fine because I'm going to get you out of it, but you definitely don't _got this_ ," Edward replied condescendingly.

….

After Jacob took another couple of hours to practice his shifting, it was time to put him to the ultimate test. We returned to the underground facility to gain access to our werewolf, and because we owned him, we were allowed to transfer him to the cage in the back of our armored stretch hummer. While inside, we made the switch. The guards that helped transport our werewolf, never had even the slightest clue we switched them, and they helped move Jacob werewolf back into the cell on the premises.

"His health appears to be in order," I told the guard waiting back inside. We had told them we were taking the beast out for a check up with our monster vet, not that he seemed to care either way. The guard just shrugged and went back to humming some kind of show tune under his breath.

Edward and I glanced at each other, nodded towards Jacob werewolf, and then left him there to prepare for that night's event.

…

If I thought I was nervous at the prior fights, I was gravely mistaken. As we took our seats that evening in the arena, I thought I was going to lose my body's weight worth of sweat from nerves.

"You need to calm down," Edward insisted.

"I know," I told him, but knowing something, and actually doing it, were two entirely different things. My nerves weren't just due to my fear for the shifter, but also fear for Edward and me as well. If Jacob failed, not only would it cost him his life, but it could possibly expose us and mean the end of everything. Edward was right to be concerned, but there was no going back. We had to take the risk in order to keep moving towards our ultimate goal.

I took several deep breaths, and concentrated on regulating my heartrate. It would all be okay. I had to believe that.

The first fight was between two smallish monsters. It didn't last long, and I had a hard time even paying the least bit attention. The second fight was Jacob, and he was put up against another werewolf. His opponent was not only bigger than Jacob's current form, but Edward was also right when he predicted they would put us up against a much more skilled fighter. The world of underground monster fighting was an exclusive community. They didn't like newcomers, and they were trying to get us out of it as quickly as possible. Had we fought the werewolf we bought the night before, our time in that tournament would already be over. Fortunately for us, Jacob was a shifter, and as he fought, he made himself just a little bigger, and a little stronger, as a way to successfully compete with the monster. No one else could have noticed the change as it happened right before their eyes, but Edward and I did, and it gave me a little more hope.

The sounds echoing off the beasts in the ring were deafening, and it radiated through me, bouncing on every bone in my body. It was almost painful to watch, but I couldn't look away either. Jacob was a seasoned fighter, but he had never come across a real werewolf, so I wasn't sure he knew how to kill one.

Just when I started worrying Jacob was going to be overpowered, he somehow spun around the other werewolf, and jumped onto it's back, before using his hands to rip his opponent's head off.

I expected some _ooohs_ and _aww's_ , however the crowd was dead silent.

When a faint "Fuck," slipped out of Edward's mouth, I knew we were in some kind of trouble. I grabbed his hand and mentally questioned what the issue was.

' _Werewolves are incapable of using their hands in that way,'_ he telepathically replied before showing me a vision of a normal werewolf's hand movement, which was much clumsier, and far less controlled. Anyone accustomed to seeing those fights would know there was something about our werewolf that wasn't right. We were definitely in some trouble.

Then, like the biggest dumbass in the entire universe, Jacob werewolf celebrated his victory by doing a little dance. My head fell into my hand in defeat. Werewolves were not self-controlled in that way. They did not dance. _What a fucking moron!_

Edward just shook his head incredulously, but after our initial shock wore off, Edward and I both reflexively looked to where the top owners and tournament heads were seated, and they returned our stare with heavy questioning anger. The only plus side I could see was that my father was not amongst them, which had definitely been a major concern before that night.

"Mr. and Mrs. Masen. We need you to come with us right now," a guard said to us after approaching from behind with three other men. Their sudden appearance startled me, but I had to immediately bury my fears. It was time for us to put on a show, and try to somehow talk our way out of it.

We were shown to a similar study that my father had, and there we waited for the tournament organizers and higher ups to meet us.

"Don't worry about it. I have an idea," Edward told me quietly.

"What the hell is that thing out there?" a man, wearing a top hat and three piece suit, asked as he stormed into the room. A small crowd followed him in, and they all glared untrustingly at us. Not only were we newcomers, but now we had a monster that was not the monster they thought we had.

Apparently, Edward's idea was to unyieldingly deny, deny, deny.

"What is wrong with our monster?" Edward asked with feigned innocence. "He's a werewolf, right? That is what we purchased last night."

"That is no ordinary werewolf!" the man countered. "Who are you two, and how did you obtain such a creature?"

Edward shrugged, and we both did our best to look just as confused as they were. "Sir, I assure you, we don't know what you're speaking of. My wife and I are new to this sport, and the beast was our first purchase. I thought we were just buying a werewolf. Is there something wrong with it?"

"Tell us how you first came into knowledge of this sport," the man demanded.

"The dark web," I replied without missing a beat. We had already discussed our background before, and Edward and I had the same story, but I figured it was best to speak up occasionally as well. "A friend of mine sent me the link, and we thought it was fascinating. When we inherited some money from his great uncle, I suggested we buy a monster."

"How did your great uncle come into a large amount of money?" another man asked us, unconvinced.

"Investments," Edward replied smoothly. "Early Apple and Microsoft mainly. He also had a bunch of real estate in prime metropolitan areas. My uncle dying was the best thing that ever happened to us. God rest his soul."

The owners looked unsure by his explanation, but Edward had said it so confidently that they couldn't really question it either.

"Mr. Tanner, is that beast in the ring down there the same beast you auctioned off yesterday?" the man with the top hat asked one of the other men.

"He has the same markings, but I have never seen him do those things before," the other man replied.

Just then, a man with a white lab coat entered the room. He whispered something in the man with the top hat's ear, and then he promptly left just as quickly.

"It seems the beast is actually a shifter," the top hat guy stated.

Everyone in the room gasped.

"I demand his ownership be returned to me!" the man who previously owned our werewolf shouted over the chatter. "Had I known my beast was really a shifter, I would have never sold it. Especially at that price."

"We purchased the creature fair and square," Edward rebutted. "It's not our responsibility to make sure you know what you're selling."

"He does have a point," Top Hat Guy mumbled. They pulled out what looked like some sort of rulebook, and they must have concluded we were in the right. "You're free to go, but a shifter doesn't belong in the Class C level. We're moving him to Class A. He will fight in the main event tomorrow."

"That is my fighter's position!" someone else protested from amongst the crowd.

"Your minotaur is a Class B fighter, at the most," Top Hat Guy replied unconcerned. "We were only putting him against the vampire because we have no other worthier opponent in this tournament."

"Yeah, Swan was supposed to be here with his hybrid for the slot, but he is still dealing with that entire mess," the man standing next to Top Hat Guy agreed, making my breath catch.

"Damn, it would have been nice to put my vampire against that hybrid," another man grumbled.

"It's settled then," Top Hat Guy announced. "This young couple got the deal of a lifetime with a shifter in disguise. They keep their purchase, and tomorrow the shifter will battle the vampire."

Our werewolf's previous owner looked like he was about to argue again, but Top Hat Guy refused to allow it. "This couldn't have been a better situation. A new generation of owners has begun, and the people will get their money's worth in tomorrow's event. Too many more lackluster tournaments and we will start losing spectators."

The crowd began to dissipate, and we were given new IDs to assumedly access the Class A holding cells. I felt like I didn't release my breath until we were left alone in the room again.

"Did we really just get away with that, or are they tricking us?" I questioned out loud, not expecting an answer.

"They bought it," Edward replied confidently. "I don't have Eleazar's gift for detecting deceit, but he did give me some cues to watch for when people lie. They believed us, so let's not waste any more time."

I nodded in agreement, and we immediately headed towards the cells in the hope of not only speaking to Jacob, but Emmett too.

Once we made it past the first barrier in the cell blocks, we were escorted the rest of the way to where Jacob was being detained.

"I was pretty awesome, wasn't I? Told you I could do it," Jake boosted the moment the guard moved out of hearing range. I worried he was going to stay with us the entire time, but the truth was, they didn't care what owners said to their beasts. In their minds, they didn't think any of the monsters were capable of having intelligent conversations, so their main concern was guarding the exits.

"You. Are. An idiot," I told him slowly.

"Werewolves don't use their hands the way you did, and they certainly don't dance," Edward told him.

"Oh shit! Are you serious? I fucked up, didn't I?"

"Don't worry about it. This will actually work to our advantage….if, we can speak to Emmett."

"Why, what's the plan?" Jake asked eagerly as he casually placed his hands on the bars that separated us. Before Edward had a chance to warn him, Jake fell to the ground in pain from the shock of the electrified bars.

"Yeah, that sucks," Edward said with a mix of compassion and humor.

After Jacob took a few minutes to recover, we explained our thoughts on the follow day's match. He was definitely doubtful and had a ton of concerns, but the truth was, it all rested on the emotional state of a very aggressive vampire.

We left Jacob in his cell to go try to find Emmett. We walked up and down the multiple rows in that cell division, but it wasn't until we turned down the last one that we knew we were in the right place. Before we even had a chance to see him, we heard that old familiar loud playful voice …

"Baby Bella?" his voice boomed from the end of the row.

"He recognizes your scent," Edward told me.

"Edward?" Emmett then questioned after hearing his voice.

We took the remaining few steps to his cell more quickly, and I couldn't help but smile as we faced him for the first time in over a decade.

"Holy mother of fuck," Emmett said slowly as he took in our appearance. "Well, look at you," he said to Edward.

"Hey, Em. How have you been?" Edward asked him softly, but casually.

"Ah, you know, tearing shit up. How have you been? I was hella worried they'd put you in the ring after I was gone. I'm glad Swan finally wised up and let you out. You never deserved to be in there. Now look at you. You could almost pass for a full human."

"Yeah, well Swan didn't let me out. I escaped a few months ago, now I'm here to get you out," Edward told him.

"You had to escape?" Emmett asked dumbfounded. "What were you doing for all these years?"

"Same as you. Fighting."

"You have been fighting…and you're still alive? Well, I'll be damned! I thought you would have been killed in your first match. You were always kind of skinny and frail."

"Eh, I was still growing," Edward rebutted. "I held my own. Never lost. But I did learn from the best."

"Damn right, you did!" Emmett laughed, but then his nostrils flared and his attention focused on me. "Who the hell are you, and why do you smell like Baby Bella?"

"This _is_ Bella," Edward told him. "She grew up. The earth rotating around the sun tends to do that to mortals."

"Well, I'll be a maggot on rotting flesh, that's amazing. Look at you. I never thought you'd live past your fifth birthday."

My smile faded into confusion. "Why not?"

"Other than the fact your mom was reckless with you and the monsters, you have that weird heart condition. I thought you'd expire at any given time back then."

"I have a what?" I asked even more confused.

"Your heart makes that odd pitter noise. Never heard anything like it before, other than an old dude once, that croaked right after."

"Old dude that croaked?" I asked, starting to get a migraine from my increased confusion.

"There isn't anything wrong with Bella," Edward told Emmett in an almost stern tone. "Charles was just paranoid."

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked, getting frustrated.

Edward opened his mouth slowly, as if he was trying to come up with some kind of bullshit answer, but then we heard talking heading our way, signifying we were almost out of time. That explanation would have to come later.

Edward turned back to Emmett. "You need to lose tomorrow's main event," he told him in a rush.

"Uh, say what now? The Terminator doesn't lose."

"You'll be up against a shifter. He is our friend," Edward explained. "He knows the plan. You need to lose so we can purchase you. It's the only way you will be put into auction. Lose, and lose bad. He will need to rip off a couple limbs."

Emmett's mouth hung open theatrically. "But…"

"Do you want to get out of here, or not?" I told him.

"And once we get you out, if you attack Bella, I'll kill you myself and burn the pieces," Edward warned him.

Emmett stared at him for a moment in shock, and then a big cheesy grin spread across his features. "Are you fucking Baby Bella? Wow, man. Brings new meaning to robbing the cradle, huh? You used to read to her kiddy books, and sing her lullabies, and shit. That's a whole new level of sick and twisted. I fucking love it! Daum, I wish I still had all those human desires to have sex all the time. Those were the days. Of course, I never wanted to fuck children, but who am I to judge."

"I am not a child!" I said, slightly bitter.

"What are you now? Ten? Twelve?"

"Seventeen," I told him.

Emmett shrugged. "Same difference. Edward is practically Hugh Heffner."

"Who is that?" I asked clueless.

"We don't have time for this shit!" Edward hissed as the voices drew closer. "Lose tomorrow. It's the only way to get out of here," he reiterated, before grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the exit.

We nodded courteously towards the other people as we left the cell block, and then went back to the hotel for the evening.

Edward, Eleazar, and I were all nervous that night, and spent much of the hours in deep discussion about how things could go wrong.

"Wait, what about the other werewolf?" I questioned, wondering what happened to the beast we had purchased.

"I took him to a holding pin that I purchased the other day," Eleazar explained. "It's at a remote property up in the mountains. If we don't need him in the near future for anything, I'll send him to friends of mine in the Amazon, and they will set him free."

I nodded, feeling slightly better about the beast's predicament.

"So what are the chances Emmett actually throws the match?" Eleazar asked Edward.

Edward sighed. "He is a competitor. It'll be hard for him to allow anyone else to win."

"You guys spoke to each other like it's only been a few weeks since you've seen each other last, not years," I mused as I considered their conversation.

"Time passes differently for vampires," Edward reminded me.

"I know… Hey, now how about you tell me what he was talking about with my heart?" I remembered.

"There is no reason to be concerned about your heart right now," Edward said dismissively.

"How about you tell me anyway," I insisted.

He sighed. "You have an irregular heartbeat, as do many other humans who go on to live normally until adulthood. It's not a big deal. Your father used much of his tournament winnings on research for your particular condition, and since I was often down in that lab being experimented on as well, I overheard that they determined there is nothing to be done for you."

"Wait, what do you mean, go on to live _until_ adulthood?" I asked perplexed.

"With certain heart troubles, like yours, many people end up succumbing in middle-aged adulthood," Edward explained casually. "No worries though. I'll turn you into a vampire well before that."

My stomach flipped. "My dad never told me I had any medical issues. In fact, I always thought I was so healthy I never had to even see doctors. I do remember a friend of his, who happened to be a doctor, coming to our house a couple times over the years, and he would give me quick little checkups. That's not normal, is it?" I asked, realizing most people went to the doctor instead of having doctors come to them.

"I have no idea what is normal or not," Edward stated the obvious.

"How could he not tell me I was sick?" I asked, getting emotional. "Then again, my father lied about everything, so why am I even surprised at this point. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" I asked Edward.

"There is nothing to tell. You are not sick. You're fine. I will turn you before anything happens."

"What if you can't? You bite me all the time and nothing happens. Maybe you're not even venomous."

"I turned my mother on the day of my birth, I'm sure I can turn you too," he disagreed.

"You turned your mother?"

"Yeah, I bit her when I came out, and she started the change. My father didn't even realize what was happening until she was already withering in the pain of the transformation."

"But you were more vampire then. You're mostly human now," Eleazar pointed out hesitantly.

"Well, if I can't do it, you will, right?" Edward asked him.

"Of course," Eleazar agreed.

"Unless he's not with us at the time. What if my heart fails while we're doing all of this?" I asked in a panic.

"Bella, I know the sound of your heart better than any other sound in the world. Listening to it, through the pipes of your home, was the only thing that got me through most of those long nights over the years. It may be unique and different than others, but it's still strong. I will hear it if it ever weakens."

"How can you hear it when you're mostly human?" I asked anxiously.

"I can still hear it. I can _always_ hear it. It's the most significant sound in my universe, and I'm completely in-tuned to it. Even in this more human state, I can still hear every little change your heart goes through. When you're nervous, or scared, or excited, or aroused," he said with a brief smile. "Your heartbeat gives away all your emotions, and it will certainly tell me when it's getting sick. You will be fine. I won't allow anything less."

I swallowed roughly, and then nodded. "Okay. Let's refocus on tomorrow."

He nodded with me. "Everything about tomorrow will be fine as well. It's a good plan. A good plan that only exists because Jacob fucked up and we lie well. This is going to get Emmett out, and then we will come together and think of what to do next for the rest of my family. Even if it doesn't go smoothly, it will all be okay. I know it will."

I nodded again, and then he reached over to comfort me, but I didn't want sweet comfort right then. I wanted the strong, heavy, aggressive kind of comfort, so I grabbed a hold of him, and kissed him fervently. I was vaguely aware when Eleazar excused himself to give us some privacy, but it was impossible to focus on it enough to care.

Edward and I carried on through most of the night, and then slept a good portion of the following day. Or, I should say, Edward slept, and I stewed about the new bit of shocking information I had learned the night before. Even if it didn't really matter in the long run because I'd become a vampire anyway, finding out something that major about my own body was a tough blow. Not only was my dad not the person I thought he was, but in a way, I wasn't the person I thought I was either, and that scared me and infuriated me at the same time.

My mind traveled back to all those times growing up when we couldn't even keep the electricity on in all of the manor due to financial issues. I never understood it then, and understood it even less when I found out what my father was hiding in our basement. Now it all became clear. Now everything made sense, and I was angrier than ever. The heart research he was funding was expensive, and my father was using all of his winnings to do it. Or, I should say, Edward's winnings. Edward had been my father's prized fighter for so many years, and because he was so good, my father had the money he needed to run that lab.

My father not only hid my health from me, but he used that disgusting blood money towards finding a cure that didn't even exist for my condition. He wanted to help me, which I appreciated, but not like that, not at the expense of so many innocent lives. Even if I was in endanger of never seeing my mid-twenties, I would have still rather died than only survive because so many others had died. It was sickening, but it did finally explain why we lived like virtual paupers, despite our huge house and my father's multi-million dollar underground business.

…

The next evening's events came far too quickly, and before I knew it, we were sitting in the arena once again. We would either end that night with the death of one of our friends, or we would be walking out with a newly freed Emmett…


	23. Family

**Chapter 23 – Family**

The first three fights seemed to go by in a blur, but when it came time for the main event, I still had a hard time concentrating. It was almost surreal, in a way. All our time and planning was finally coming into fruition, and I was terrified something would go wrong.

Would Emmett allow himself to be defeated?

Everything rested on, by all accounts, an emotionally unstable vampire. A vampire that had been imprisoned for a century, and locked in solitary confinement for over a decade. I sincerely hoped Jacob could hold his own, otherwise there was a real risk of him not making it out of that arena alive.

"He knew the risks," Edward whispered to me in response to my unvoiced concerns. I didn't even realize until that moment that Edward and I were holding hands, therefore he was privy to all my thoughts. Not that I minded, but I probably would have censored my worries a little more had I realized he was listening.

"You should never censor your thoughts around me," Edward disagreed.

I huffed with playful irritation, and pulled my hand from his.

"Sorry," he mumbled under his breath just as the tournament announcer entered the ring to begin the main event.

Once again, I felt like I was holding my breath. Since Jacob was discovered to be a shape-shifter by the tournament leaders, he was able to freely shift into whatever form be wanted during the match, of which he took full advantage. Shifting between several beasts as he and Emmett sized each other up, was distracting and disorienting for not only the spectators, but for Em as well.

"What the hell is this thing doing? Stop changing!" Emmett shouted aggressively.

I didn't understand Jacob's tactic at first either, but as the minutes seemed to drag on, I slowly began to realize what was happening. Emmett didn't know how or where to attack, and his frustration was becoming his weakness. At the peak of Em's anger, Jake went for his neck.

"Oh my god!" I shrieked as Emmett's head was ripped clean off his shoulders.

"Fucking Jacob," I heard Edward huff.

"He…he…he… he killed him," I said slowly as my entire body started shaking with anger, and remorse, and shock.

"I specifically told him to rip off a few limbs, not his head," Edward grumbled.

"We trusted him," I said with tears building in my eyes. "I can't believe he did that." Not only was I upset that Emmett was just killed and we had put our trust in a disgusting shifter that didn't deserve it, but I could only imagine the pain Edward was going through. Emmett was more than a friend, he was like his brother, his mentor, hell, he practically raised him. Edward must have been devastated…

"Bella, it's ok. Emmett is not dead," Edward said unexpectedly. "The only way to truly kill a vampire is by burning it."

My brows furrowed. "But Eleazar said beheading a vampire will kill it."

Edward nodded. "A vampire can't live without its head, so Emmett is essentially dead, but the head can be reattached as long as it or the body isn't burned. Maybe dead isn't the right word, it's more like he's in suspended animation. If he is never reassembled, he will remain in that state forever unless burned."

"Oh," I swallowed roughly.

"Now, if it was just a limb that was torn off, it's possible for him to reattach it himself. In fact, a detached hand will crawl its way back to its body as if it had a mind of its own," he added.

"Wow, that's a disgustingly graphic visual," I said, mildly disturbed but grateful Emmett wasn't fully dead.

"As the owners of the victor, we have the right to purchase the loser. Hopefully they haven't changed that rule."

…

"He is not for sale!" Emmett's owner snapped at us during our pre-auction meeting.

"Um, it says in our owner's rulebook that the winners have first right of refusal," Edward countered. "And we want him."

"Do you know how difficult it is to come by vampires these days?" Emmett's owner retorted. "That rulebook was made back in the day when vampires were plentiful. I don't care if he lost, I'm keeping him!"

"You are new to this sport," Top Hat Guy tried reasoning with us. "Surely you don't have the means to support two Class A monsters?"

"That is for us to worry about," I disagreed. "This is exactly why we came here. To build up our own monster cache so we can compete in the biggest tournaments." I turned to Edward, and squealed, "We're getting there, baby!"

"We sure are babe," he replied theatrically, with a big wet smooch to my lips. "Just like I told you we would."

We were playing up the roles of young, rich, snobs as best we could, and it was working.

"It is in the rulebook," Top Hat guy said apologetically to Emmett's owner. "I'm sorry, Walter, we will do what we can to locate another Class A fighter for you as soon as possible."

Em's owner shook his head absently, and then he exploded. "This is a sham! I don't know how you did it, but somehow you got my vampire to give up the fight. The Terminator does not lose!"

Despite his words being truer than he realized, no one believed him and only laughed as if he was telling a joke. Edward and I, of course, laughed with them.

"Wouldn't it be grand if vampires and all these other creatures were smart enough to override their instincts and throw matches?" Edward said haughtily to the crowd of owners in the room. "We could control these matches and make a killing."

Everyone laughed. "If only," Top Hat agreed before turning to the man standing next to him. "I like this kid." He turned back to Edward and clapped him on the back. "Next tournament is three months from now in London. We would love to see your new shifter be in the main event. There is another vampire that will be fighting then that would make an excellent opponent. The spectators will certainly be wowed."

"That sounds perfect. Count us in," Edward agreed.

"The vampire our shifter will be up against, what's its name?" I asked while trying like hell to just sound mildly curious.

"That's DeWitt's vampire, right?" Top Hat Guy asked the man behind him.

"The Yankee," the man confirmed with a nod.

"That's right. The DeWitt's bought the Yankee from the Higginbotham's several years ago. He has been doing quite well in the European and Asian circuits," Top Hat Guy recalled.

My heart skipped. They were talking about a vampire previously owned by the Higginbotham's, so it was a good chance it was Carlisle. We practically had Emmett, and now we were already onto the next member of Edward's family. It was all falling into place.

The purchase of Emmett went smoothly after that, and we were able to transport his severed pieces, as well as our champion idiot shifter, to the remote property in the mountains that Eleazar had purchased for us.

Jacob spent half of the ride there defending his actions in the ring, but it didn't really even matter. We had done it. We successfully got Emmett, so we weren't going to waste a moment dwelling on what went wrong.

Eleazar took the time to painstakingly resembled Emmett, and we all waited for him to regain consciousness. The moment his eyes opened, he zeroed in on the creature that defeated him.

"I'm going to rip your head off!" Emmett growled, going from zero to a thousand in point two seconds.

"Hold on now," Edward said, getting between them and thwarting his attack. "It had to be done to make it believable," Edward tried explaining.

Emmett's ruby irises blazed at the shifter, but then there was a visible shift in his demeanor when something must have clicked in his mind.

"Edward," Em said, getting unexpectedly emotional. "Ah, my little buddy. Look how big you are."

"I was this size the last time we saw each other," Edward grumbled.

"Gosh, I've missed you," Em told him, before pulling him in for a huge hug. If it were possible for vampires to cry, it sounded like Emmett would have been. "I raised this kid from a small child, and now look at him," he continued while looking at Eleazar, Jacob, and me. "Isn't he handsome?"

He wasn't really looking for a response, but I said, "Oh, yeah. Totally handsome."

Emmett looked at Edward adorningly, like a mama would look at her baby, but then his nostrils flared and his forehead creased before his head snapped up and he glared at us untrustingly. "Who are you creatures?"

"Uh, Emmett, I'm Bella, remember? We spoke yesterday in the cells."

"Yes, Baby Bella that fucks Edward. I got you, but who is that vamp, and why are you hanging with a shifter? It's not even in a cage."

"Eleazar is my father's mate, so he has been helping us," Edward explained, "and Jacob is helping us as well. He has family on the inside he wants to free, so we are working together."

"Why the hell would you ever work with a shifter? That's just wrong. And I let you win during the match, by the way," Emmett said while pointing to Jake.

"Whatever," Jake replied in clear disagreement. "You may not have tried to kill me in the ring, but you certainly didn't let me rip off your head. I just bested you."

"You little fucking prick. I could snap your neck before you even see me move." Emmett lunged for Jacob again, but again Edward stopped him.

"Stop attacking him! We need all the help we can get to free my family."

"Dude, are you still stuck on freeing your family?" Emmett asked disapprovingly. "What did I always used to tell you?"

"You don't know they're dead," Edward disagreed. "Let me just show you, and maybe you've seen them," he said while reaching for Em's face, which Em quickly swatted away.

"I told you before, I'm not cool with all that mind shit you do. I don't want to see in your mind, and I sure as hell don't want you seeing into mine. I love you, little bro, but that's a line I'm not going to allow you to cross."

"I just need you to see my family's faces so you'll know if you've faced them," Edward argued.

"I never allowed it when you were little, and I'm not going to allow it now," Emmett denied.

Edward huffed in frustration, but could do nothing but shake his head. "Fine, I guess there is nothing to do but move forward with plans for the next tournament in London. Emmett, if you don't want to come with us to help, I understand. We should just say goodbye here."

"Goodbye? Man, I just got you back, I'm not leaving you now. Whatever you're doing, I'm in. Even if it takes you an eternity to accept they're all dead, I'll be here for when you finally do."

"Why do you think his family is dead?" Eleazar asked concerned.

"Most vampires are these days. I faced one a few years back, but that was the first and last one in a long time. Our numbers are dwindling rapidly. You even told me before that none of your family members were fighters."

"I certainly wasn't a fighter either, but I learned, and I'm still here," Edward argued. "I understand why you have doubts, but the fact that your owner didn't want to part with your corpse gives me hope. Defeated vampires aren't killed anymore. They're reassembled and sold off, or brought back in to fight another day."

"If that's true, why are there so few of us left?" Emmett questioned. "In the early days of these tournaments, I was fighting vampires at every match. Back then, those were the boring preliminary fights. People wanted to see vampires fighting werewolves and fire demons. It's all changed now. Vampires are almost extinct."

"Well, we know my mother is alive. I was due to fight her at the last tournament at Swan Manor."

"Seriously?" Emmett asked slightly shocked. "That's some seriously fucked up shit right there."

"Yeah, and judging by the talks of the owners the other night, I was due to fight you in this last tournament, and would have if Bella hadn't freed me."

Emmett shook his head absently. "You would have had to kill me. There is no way I'd ever fight you."

"I wouldn't have fought you or my mother either, which means the owners would have set the entire ring on fire. I've seen it done before when monsters refuse to fight. We have to find a way to get her, and the rest of my family, out."

"And my imprint," Jacob interjected.

"I'm willing to risk my life to save your family, but I'm not doing it for no shifter," Emmett grumbled.

"We had an agreement," Edward tried reasoning with him. "You wouldn't be free right now without Jacob. We need his help, and we are going to help him in return."

"But other than your mother, we don't know if your family is alive, and we don't know if his bitch is alive either. This could all be for nothing."

"Well, we have to free my mother, and until we know for sure the rest are all dead, we are going to keep searching for them. It would sure be helpful if you could stop being a little bitch, and let me show you what they look like."

"He's scared," Eleazar jumped back into the conversation. "What scares you about Edward's visions?"

Emmett glared at Eleazar like he wanted to kill him, and then he huffed and turned back to Edward. "Listen, I never had any family besides you. You are the only little creature I ever even cared about. But I have killed a lot of vampires in my day, and I don't want to upset you."

"You think you've killed one of his family members," Eleazar assumed.

I raised my brows at him, and watched Edward's face for his reaction. Both men just stared at each other for a long moment.

"I… I just don't know," Emmett finally admitted.

"That's the real reason you never let me show you my family?" Edward asked incredulously. "Emmett, I know the world we live in. I know none of us chose to fight. I would never blame you if you were forced to kill any of them."

"How could you forgive something like that?" Emmett asked quietly. "Even if you understood it, you would resent me, and I'd feel like shit for the rest of eternity."

"Well, we all feel like shit for the things we've done. Nothing we can do about it except try to move on."

"Can we please stop with all this therapy bullshit? I can't take anymore," Jacob spat. "Just kiss each other already, and let's get back to planning our next move. We're not just hunting vampires on this quest either. We have my imprint to find too, so let's not forget that."

"At some point during this journey, I'm going to rip your head off. Do your limbs reattach the way vampire's do?" Emmett asked Jake menacingly.

"Pfft! I'm not afraid of any vampire. I took you down so easily in the ring…"

"I let you win! If Edward hadn't told me to throw the match, you would be dead by now."

Jake scoffed. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Vampires don't sleep, but I know shifters do. Have fun drifting off knowing I'm close by and can strike at any time."

Jacob scowled. "You wouldn't let him kill me in my sleep, would you?" he asked me.

Emmett snorted. "Baby Bella sleeps too. How would she even know?"

Jacob turned to Eleazar questionably.

"No one is killing anyone," Eleazar told him. "We need to get our loved ones out, and then we can worry about everything else after."

"Speaking of killing, I'm starving," Em announced. "Your fuck buddy is smelling pretty yummy right about now," he said to Edward.

"Don't even go there," Edward replied evenly.

"I wouldn't eat your pussy, that's your job," Em said with a snicker. " But I am hungry, and super looking forward to some blood straight from the vein. All that donated blood nonsense they feed you in the cells isn't good. They can never get the temperature right, and there is always a plasticky staleness to it. Anyway, why don't you point me in the direction of some of your disliked schoolmates," he asked me.

"Uh… I went to school in Washington, and we are in California, so I doubt there is anyone close by that I know. Besides, if you're going to be free, you need to learn to live peacefully with humans."

"I can make their deaths peaceful. I'm not heartless."

"Eleazar drinks animal blood," I told him.

"What? That sounds grosser than donated bagged blood. No way!"

"It's not so bad once you get used to it," Eleazar offered.

"Aren't there any criminals I can save the world from at least?" Em whined.

"Actually, there is a group of human traffickers not far from here," Edward suggested casually.

"No!" I growled at him. "No killing humans. Not even the bad ones. If you're going to stay with us, you need to get used to a non-human diet."

"Can't you find a less demanding chick to unload in?" Emmett asked Edward. "All vaginas feel the same. We can find you one that comes with a quieter mouth."

"Bella has an amazing mouth actually," Edward disagreed.

Emmett's face fell into a devious smirk. "I bet she does."

"You're kind of a pig, aren't you?" I told him.

"Eh, it's more fun than being boring. Don't be all offended, trust me, I wouldn't give up my chick when I was human either. I get it. You're probably the only vagina Edward has ever seen."

"She's my mate, so how about you stop running your mouth before I rip your jaw off," Edward warned him.

"Your mate? Like, vampire mate? How the hell do you have a human mate? That doesn't even make sense."

"I am half human," Edward said with a shrug. "And apparently, you're half pig."

"Whatever. Speaking of pigs, I heard pig blood is the closest to humans. If I need to eat nasty animals, let's find some pigs."

…

We spent the next few days at that remote property, just to make sure Emmett had control of himself enough to travel. As annoying as his comments were, I was pleasantly surprised just how easily he acclimated to the outside, and molded himself into our group seamlessly. Despite his crude comments, I knew Emmett loved Edward, and he was fiercely loyal to him. He was the only one that had no real reason to risk his life in order to free the others, and yet he quickly became entirely devoted to our cause, just because he knew it was important Edward.

The entire process of freeing Emmett went relatively smoothly, which gave me hope for the upcoming breakouts. If the next tournament went half as well, I would consider it a success. However, I knew life wasn't that easy and we would certainly run into some bigger issues. Every time Edward and I played the roles of monster owners, and we entered Jacob in the ring, we would be risking our lives and our friends' freedom. Eventually, something was bound to go seriously wrong, I only hoped we continued to figure out a way to get ourselves out of it.


	24. London

**Chapter 24 – London**

The pounding didn't stop. It was violent, and painful, and made me wonder how the hell I'd survive it. Just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, he slowed, which only made me wish he'd pick up the pace again.

I tried to hold it in. I tried to keep it contained to the link between our minds, but the torturously blissful sensation refused to allow silence.

"Holy fuck!" I screamed out as the feeling seemed to combust out of every pore in my body.

Edward grunted a few more times, before his entire body convulsed, and then stiffened, and finally relaxed into me.

"How does it just keep getting better and better?" I asked languidly as I reclined on his arm, and we both tried to catch our breaths.

"Don't question it. Just be grateful," he replied with slightly slurred speech.

"I'm definitely grateful," I agreed with a lazy giggle.

"Want to eat?"

"Of course," I said far too quickly. He didn't have to ask me twice when it came to snacks after sex. Anytime we did that rough - fuck each other's brains out - type of sex, I was always starving afterwards, and lucky for me, Edward had adapted to my eating habits and would always join me.

We dressed quickly, but with it being in the middle of the night, we remained comfy and scantily clad. I put on a robe, and Edward was satisfied with wearing nothing but a pair of sweats.

It was a mistake.

"I couldn't be more proud than if you were my own son," Emmett said the moment Edward opened the bedroom door.

"For fuck's sake!" Edward groaned with irritation. "Why the hell aren't you out hunting with Eleazar?"

"I can't leave you alone in this house unprotected. What if something happened to you?"

"I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself and Bella," Edward grumbled as he pushed past the vampire and headed to the kitchen, towing me behind him as he went.

"Anything could happen. The creature hunters could come, a ghost attack, a zombie apocalypse."

"You're a moron," Edward told him. We made it to the fridge, and despite Edward busying himself with making us some sandwiches, Emmett continued to speak to him as if he had his full attention.

"I've learned from my many years on this planet that unbelievable shit happens every day."

"So, instead of hunting with Eleazar, you're here, invading my privacy, and listening at my bedroom door? Emmett, I'm glad you're here and all, but I need a little space."

"I didn't stay just to listen at your door. I told you, I didn't want to leave you unprotected in your mostly human state."

"And like I told you, I'm fully capable of protecting myself. Besides, Jacob is here if trouble were to come up."

Emmett raised his brow challengingly.

"Yeah, I know he's useless while asleep," Edward relented. "Either way, you don't need to be listening at my door."

"I wasn't, but then I heard what you two were doing in there, and I'm just so proud of you. That's something I didn't even teach you, and by the sound of it, you were fucking Baby Bella like a champ."

"Please stop calling me Baby Bella," I said evenly.

Emmett ignored me. "I'm just astonished by how you even knew to do that? It's not like you were in Sex Ed growing up."

"No, but I was," I interjected again.

Emmett finally looked at me, and he was wearing a big oofy grin. "I should have known you'd be super horny. You are your mother's daughter."

"Ew, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"That chick was constantly aroused. She got off being down by the cages. I remember one time she begged your dad to take her right…"

"Emmett!" Edward scolded him. "She doesn't want to hear that shit."

"Whatever, it's true. Hey, speaking of sex, I was thinking maybe your father could help me with that."

"My father?" I asked incredulously.

Emmett scrunched his face in disgust. "No. No one needs help from Slow and Steady Swan, I was talking about Edward's father. You know, the vampire who actually fucked a human."

"How the hell could he help you?" Edward asked him, only mildly disturbed and somewhat curious.

"Well, maybe he could give me some of that mojo he took to conceive you. I mean, I don't want to have a kid or anything. Raising you was plenty for a bachelor like me, but I would definitely like to get the sex part back. It could be like a Viagra pill for vamps, or something. Just enough of those human juices to get the ball running."

"I honestly have no idea what the hell you're talking about," Edward told him baffled.

"Oh, come on! Vampires don't have the ability to have sex. No hormones, none of those fun human fluids to making everything down there work. Trust me, if it were possible, I would have figured it out by now. I miss sex. I want to be able to do it again, and obviously your dad figured it out since he made you. I want some."

"How do you even know what Viagra is?" I asked him.

"My last owner kept me next to some hideous beast with a little bit of a pissing problem. He used to line his cage with magazines, so sometimes I'd reach through a steal a few to read. There is a lot of amazing information in the Men's Health magazine."

I laughed to myself, but Edward just became even more confused. "I literally only understood like two words you just spoke."

"Doesn't really matter, little brotha, you are getting plenty of sex, so you're all good."

"If a vampire can't have sex, why are you so wrapped up with it? Shouldn't you be focusing on blood, or something else more normal for vampires?" I asked curiously.

"When someone becomes a vampire, they take their most important human traits and memories with them. The biggest part of my life before, was sex. I was so fucking good at fucking. Fighting and fucking. So yeah, I miss it. Not being able to do it anymore is fucking torture. All I have left is fighting, and now that I'm out of the ring, even that's been taken from me."

"We could always put you back in," Edward offered playfully. "Instead of you hoping for some magic potion from my father to get your sex drive back, how about you look for a mate? Eleazar said the mating bond is even stronger and more powerful than sex, so try that and maybe you will stop missing sex so much."

Em considered it for a moment. "Nah, I don't think I even believe in mates. I've been all over the world, and never saw a single vamp wench I'd want to spend eternity with. That's just some shit they try selling to our species to make up for the lack of sex."

"Doesn't have to be a wench," I told him. "Maybe your mate will be male."

Emmett's face fell into revulsion. "Why would you even suggest such a thing? The Terminator is not gay. Not that I have nothing against gay people. I was once caged next to an ogre with a keen fashion sense, and a long, unyielding love for his mate Keith. I listened to him for days on end pinning and crying. I even learned some proper monster hygiene etiquette. I loved that beast like a brother, and I have no issues with his sexual type, I just know I'm not gay."

"Emmett, mating has nothing to do with sexuality. My dad and Eleazar aren't gay either," Edward argued.

"That's easy for you to say. And hypocritical. You are constantly fucking your mate, so you have no room to talk."

"And I'm also mostly human dealing with my human hormones, which you no longer have, nor will you ever again," Edward replied pompously.

"Never say never! If your dad is alive, and we get him out, I'm sure he will help me."

"I wouldn't count on it. He hasn't been in a lab for over a hundred years. I doubt he is even capable of recreating that concoction again."

Emmett shrugged. "I have an eternity, and I can be patient. Eventually, he will figure it out again."

Edward shook his head at him, before handing me a sandwich, and then dragging me back to our private bedroom to pick up where we left off.

…

For the last two and a half months we had been staying in a remote country cabin, several dozen miles outside of London. The five of us had taken that time to get to know each other even better, and to help Emmett readjust to the outside world. He wasn't around regular humans much, other than me, of course, but he seemed to be doing extremely well. It gave me hope that all of Edward's family members would adjust easily to being around me, and we wouldn't have to separate after all.

With the next tournament drawing nearer, Edward and I became busy rubbing elbows and schmoozing the other monster owners that were trickling into the area. The deeper we dug our way into their inner circle, the more information we were privy to about all the various fighters, which would hopefully lead us in the right direction to find the ones we were searching for.

"Do you really think they will show us pictures of the fighters?" I asked Edward as we were being driven towards a brunch event with all of the owners who had already arrived.

"I don't see why not. They like us, and they want us to like them. I don't think requesting a guide of all the monsters we may go up against is outlandish."

"I hope not," I agreed, but less convinced.

Meeting with the owners was always difficult for us. The more time we spent with them, the more I loathed them. Their pompous privileged attitudes were sickening, and I often found myself having trouble reining in my attitude when asked questions. Because of this, I did less and less of the talking, and Edward had to step up and take over most of the conversations. Not that the other owners minded in the least. They were the types to prefer to just have their women pretty, but silent. Just one more infuriating aspect of that world we were trying to infiltrate. Edward, on the other hand, was learning so much, and was excelling in all the social aspects. At times, he even had me convinced…

"Now, you don't keep these monsters in their cages together, do you?" Edward asked one of the men as we ate.

"You know, I tried caging them together, but then they started huddling up with each other, and refused to fight," Michael replied with an incredulous head shake. "Stupid beasts. Took me four months of shock collars and electrified whips to get them to fight again."

Michael Newton was a relatively young owner, who inherited his family's monsters early in life, due to his father's untimely passing. Since arriving in the area, we had spent quite some time with him and his fiancé, Lauren. The event organizers had introduced us, and tended to seat us together since we were all seemingly close in age. Being with them was a little less awkward than being with some of the older owners, however there were few people I had met in that industry that I detested more. They were in their early twenties, and absolutely knew how wrong it was to enslave creatures of any kind. Hell, Lauren was an animal activist, who protested to have the elephants in circuses set free. How she slept at night, knowing what was happening with the tournament creatures, was beyond me. A fucking hypocrite of the worst kind.

"No one ever said monsters were intelligent," Edward said after faking a laugh with Michael. "Hey, you don't happen to have a list of all the vampires in the system, do you?" he then asked as casually as possible. "We are still fairly ignorant on how all this works."

"I thought you already owned a vampire?" Michael asked confused.

"We do, and a shifter, but we would like to acquire some more vampires, if possible."

"Why would you want more vampires?" Lauren spoke up with disgust. "They're the worst of the creatures. So hard to contain, and each and every one of them have shitty attitudes."

"We love the challenge," Edward replied with a convincing playful grin. "Besides, with only two monsters to our name, we really want to build a bigger collection. I'm particularly fascinated by vampires because they're just so medieval and ancient. I like the feeling of controlling supernatural beast that have been on this planet for centuries. Makes me feel…"

"Powerful," Michael agreed.

"Definitely," Edward replied.

"Power is certainly a turn on," Lauren added while looking at Edward almost hungrily.

I cleared my throat. "So, do you have the list or not?" I asked, trying like hell, but failing miserably, to contain my disdain.

"Is everything alright?" Michael asked me, seeming concerned about my sour tone.

"Yeah, of course. I'm sorry, I've just been fighting a migraine all day. We are so excited for the next tournament, but it feels like we've been here for a long time, and that time is moving extra slowly right now. I'm just ready to get on with it."

"I feel you," Lauren said with an agreeing huff. "We usually don't come this early for any stupid pre-tournament events either. It is getting boring. The more tournaments you attend, the more you'll come to realize how different they all are. Each tournament is run differently, and the British love their multiday experience, with tea parties and shit. So lame. I'm just so glad you guys are here this time. Hanging with the other old ass owners is exasperating. I find myself just hoping they would all die soon so their kids can take over."

I scrunched my brows, and then somehow willed them to flatten as I forced my lips to stretch into a grin. "I'm sure they all felt the same way when they were our ages as well."

"Who knows what those fossils thought back then," Lauren scoffed.

"True," I responded evenly, and then turned back to Mike. "So, the list of vampires?" I prompted again. "With pictures would be preferred."

"Uh, I have seen one at some point. You know, let me tell my secretary to look in my old man's files. I'm sure there is something in there from back in the day. They probably aren't very current though. I know I haven't updated anything. Half of the vampires on the list are probably dead or with different owners by now."

"We are just trying to get an idea of which ones we'd want to put our shifter against, in the hopes of winning, and acquiring them afterwards."

"Yeah, I got you," Mike said with a nod. "I'll call my secretary have her email it to you."

"Email?" Edward asked confused.

Mike and Lauren looked at him, confused by his confusion, and half expecting there to be some kind of punchline to his presumed joke.

"Oh, he never looks at his email, I'll just give you mine," I told them, trying to play off Edward's ignorance. As far as Edward had come from his completely naïve entrance into the human world, there were still some occasional hiccups we would run into. It was impossible to teach him absolutely everything in that short amount of time, and we came to find it was the little things that we often overlooked in his lessons.

Mike and Lauren thankfully laughed off Edward's ignorance, so I gave them my new email address, and we finished the event brunch without anymore issues.

We didn't get a chance to open their email until we got home, which was for the best since it was utterly frustrating. It was a long list of over five thousand vampires, and it was over fifty years old, with no pictures.

"This is useless," I said with a huff.

"I will look through it and try to see what I can figure out," Eleazar volunteered.

"I'll help," Emmett offered.

"And I'll go work on my shifting," Jacob announced.

"And that leaves us to discuss what an email is," I told Edward.

….

The first night of the tournament arrived all too quickly, and I was just as anxious as I was at the last tournament. After Jacob won his preliminary match, we went down to the cells to meet The Yankee.

"You ready for this?" I asked Edward. We had no way of knowing for sure, but we were fairly convinced The Yankee was his father, so I could only imagine the emotions he was experiencing.

"I just hope he is calm enough to even speak to us," Edward replied quietly.

"Emmett was pretty much himself," I said encouragingly.

"Emmett was always a fighter. He practically raised me, and the years we spent apart wasn't much to vampires. My father hasn't seen me since I was small. He wasn't a natural fighter, so being forced to fight in this way must have changed him. Plus, Emmett's owner kept him in relatively decent conditions. Not all vampires are so lucky. You saw the condition my mother was in, that's actually more common than how Emmett was."

"But your mother recognized your scent right away. I'm sure your father will too."

"I'm not worried about myself," he reminded me. "I don't want to have to kill my father for attacking you. Emmett already knew you, so it was easier for him."

"I will keep my distance," I assured him.

Edward nodded absently, and took my hand as we walked through the cells. Like all the other times we passed through any of the holding cells, all the creatures were growling and hissing at us as we went. We showed our passes to get to the Class A fighters, and tentatively searched for Edward's father.

"He's not here," Edward said after we looked into the last cell and didn't find a single vampire.

"Maybe they're keeping him somewhere else? Didn't you say my dad would sometime keep Emmett in a different area before his big matches?"

"Yeah, but that's a huge issue. If we can't talk to him before the fight, he won't know to lose."

I sighed. "Jake is going to have to figure out a way to tell him during the fight."

"Shit, this is not going to be good," Edward said under his breath.

We went to the cell Jake was in, and explained the situation. He too was concerned, but without access to Carlisle beforehand, there wasn't anything else to do.

"Well, even if he doesn't _let_ me win, I'll still win," Jake tried convincing us, but I was sure he was trying to convince himself just as much.

…

The tournament main event arrived, and we were all nervous. Eleazar had a hard time waiting outside knowing his mate was that close and about to battle Jacob. But even worse than Jacob potentially defeating Carlisle without his prior knowledge of the plan, I couldn't help but worry what would happen if Jacob didn't win. If Carlisle killed Jacob, not only would it be a tough blow for our little group, but as much as Edward would never admit it, he had grown to care for Jake like a brother. It would be hard to move past his loss, especially at the hands of his father. The entire situation was just hard, and the worst part was that it was out of our hands at that point.

Like all the other tournament main events, an announcer came into the ring first, and then they brought out the fighters. Jacob decided on staying in his human form as he was wheeled into the arena, and he definitely looked nervous. However, when they brought out his opponent, we were all absolutely flabbergasted.

"What the hell?" I huffed.

"I'm going to go ask what's going on," Edward told me, before getting up and heading towards the platform the higher up owners and officiates were seated.

I stayed in my seat, and just watched as Jacob easily took down the swamp monster he was surprisingly up against.

Edward returned to my side just as the crowd was beginning to exit the arena.

"What did they say?" I asked impatiently.

"Apparently, the owner of The Yankee pulled him out at the last moment. He must have thought he couldn't win, and didn't want to risk losing him."

"Great. What do we do now?"

Edward shrugged. "There is nothing to do except move on to the next tournament. He isn't even here anymore. I guess they left a few days ago."

It was all so frustrating.

We went back to our temporary home that night with a smug Jacob, but no new creature. Unfortunately, only defeated vampires got second chances. We had the opportunity to buy other creatures during the auction, but we had no use for more fighters at that point.

I expected Eleazar to be disheartened by the turn of events, however he did have some good news for us.

"I found Rosalie, and your mother!" he told us excitedly. There were no pictures on list that Mike emailed to us, but there were descriptions, or stats, as the list labeled them. Through the process of elimination, and cross compared to the list I had previously downloaded from my father's computer, Eleazar was confident he knew where Rosalie and Esme were, and who currently owned them.

It was just the morale boost we needed. Eleazar, of course, was disappointed we didn't find Carlisle, but he remained hopeful and positive we would eventually get to him.

Through our new relationships with the owners, we had access to a complete schedule for the year of all the upcoming tournaments. Next up was Rome, and Rosalie's owner was on the list of participants. We would not let the near miss of Carlisle detour us. We had to believe we would get to him sooner or later, and it was time to focus on the next event…


	25. Romancing Rome

**Chapter 25 – Romancing Rome**

Rome was probably the most incredible place I had ever been. The ancient ruins were as beautiful as they were eerie. There was a strange sense of solemnity that oozed out of every building, and carried an icy breeze through the otherwise hot stagnant air. It almost felt like we were constantly being watched by the ghosts of the Roman gladiators that fought and died there centuries prior. Now, instead of human slaves being forced to fight, the supernatural were suffering in their stead. It just proved that mankind's bloodlust, and quest for ultimate power, was relentless.

"Wow, it almost looks magical from here," I said while looking at the Colosseum as we were shown to our table. "You almost forget what horrors happened within its walls. It's no wonder the owners would want to meet at this restaurant before the event. It probably makes them feel powerful looking at it knowing they're the modern day version of gladiator owners."

Edward smirked. "Actually, this isn't a tournament sponsored event."

"It's not?" I asked confused. It wasn't until that moment that I realized our table was just set for two. "It's just us? Why?"

He laughed once. "Call it a date. Or, at least, Emmett called it a date when he suggested I take you out, just the two of us."

"Oh. Well, that's… I don't know, I guess I'm still confused. We have so much to do before the tournament starts, we probably shouldn't be wasting time on some fancy dinner that doesn't mean anything."

"I wouldn't say it doesn't mean anything," he disagreed. "Since we left Brazil, we have been going nonstop with all the traveling, and planning, and everything that goes with it. When all of this is over, and life slows down, we may not know what to do with ourselves anymore, so I thought it was a good idea to take a small break."

A smile spread across my face, and actually hurt my cheeks as a result. It had to be the first genuine smile I had in weeks, and because of that, it almost felt foreign in a way – a good way. "This is definitely a good idea."

"Yeah, but I wasn't thinking about the whole gladiator thing," he added, gesturing to the Colosseum across the way. "It does seem a little wrong for us to be using it as a romantic backdrop, especially considering what we are in this city trying to do."

Just then the Colosseum lit up, making the most incredible contrast between the illuminated stone ruins, to the dark colors of the sky behind it. It was the perfect blend of ancient architecture, and the natural awe of our heavens above. Absolutely breathtaking.

"Maybe it's not wrong," I said softly. "Maybe this is the perfect example of beauty in the wake of horror. Think of how far human culture has come since this was built. It's amazing, really."

"They haven't come all that far if they're still forcing enslaved creatures to fight," Edward disagreed.

"That's not human society though, not really anyway. It's just a small group of nasty power hungry jackasses. Most humans aren't this sick. Or, at least, I have to believe most aren't."

"We can go somewhere else if you want," he offered sweetly.

I considered it briefly. "Nah, let's just take this for what it is – a beautiful evening."

The restaurant we were dining at was called Aroma, and the food was just as delicious as its name. Edward and I managed to spend an entire hour without discussing the tournaments, or any other creature besides the two of us, and then he surprised me even more.

"Come dance with me," he said with his hand outstretched towards me.

I grinned. "You don't know what an _email_ is, but you know how to dance?"

He shrugged. "How hard can it be?"

Edward was definitely a quick learner. After watching the other couples dancing for a brief minute, he had it down, and I was the one stumbling through it. Despite stepping on his toes repeatedly, he held me tight, and never let me fall.

The music played softly, but it soon faded away until there was no sound left in the entire world, except the gentle beating of his heart as I rested my head against his chest. He topped off the amazing moment by lifting my chin up so he could kiss me in the most swoon-worthy way. It literally made my knees go weak, and I knew, without a doubt, that I would have fallen irrevocably in love with him if I wasn't so much already. I never even knew moments like that could truly exist outside of cheesy chick-flicks.

"You're really good at this romance stuff," I told him softly. "Who would have guessed?"

He smiled. "Well, truth be told, my father used to pull my mother in for dancing at random times. I never understood it back then, but I've wanted to dance with you ever since that first night we spent together."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't try any sooner. My two left feet would have had you running for the hills."

"It's impossible for you to have two left feet," he disagreed, not understanding my comment. "And why would I run to any hills?"

I giggled. " _'Two left feet'_ means I'm clumsy, and _'running for the hills'_ means you wouldn't want me anymore and you'd leave me as soon as possible."

"Why would your lack dancing skills make me want to leave you?" he questioned, still not understanding.

"It wouldn't. It was just a joke," I said dismissively.

"Oh," he replied with an absent head nod as he was apparently still trying to comprehend everything. He must have decided it just didn't matter, because he shrugged it off and then asked me, "Are you ready to head back?"

Through our touch, he already knew I wasn't ready for our date to be over just yet, so after paying our bill, we left the restaurant and walked to the outdoor market area down the way.

Even though it was night, the booths were well lit with millions of little twinkling lights, which somehow still carried the romance through the crowded rows of produce, souvenirs, and various secondhand goods.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea," I said as we began to browse. "The last time we were in a market like this we ended up taking in another mouth to feed."

"Jacob has served us well thus far," Edward argued. "We would only be lucky to be stalked by another creature who could help us the way he does."

"True," I conceded. "It would be nice if said creature was a little less mouthy than Jacob though."

"Mouthy? Did he bite you?"

"No, I mean he talks a lot of crap. It gets irritating."

"That, he does," he agreed.

We walked around a bit more, and we saw some interesting things, but mostly we just enjoyed our time together. It was peaceful, and completely and utterly ordinary, which was such a wonderful break from the hectic craziness we usually existed in.

Just as we were about to leave, a particular little antique music box caught my eye. "Wow, this is pretty."

I opened the box, and was absolutely stunned by the melody it produced. "This… this is…" I looked up at Edward in shock.

"It's the lullaby I used to hum to you," he confirmed with a smile. "My mother used to hum it to me when I was little too. It must be a very old tune."

"This song got me through some really tough nights growing up," I told him. "Well, I guess it was _you_ that got me through it all along. I used to think I was imagining it, or it was just playing in my head and seeping into the real world due to my own delusions. Sometimes I even thought it was my mother, trying to comfort me from heaven."

"You're mother wasn't really the humming type," he told me. "She always said soft melodies were boring, and she much preferred the loud stuff."

"I did not know that about her," I said, surprised.

I couldn't leave that booth without the box, so of course, we bought it. It was made with real silver, so despite the decades' worth of tarnish, it was quite pricey. Even still, it meant a lot to me, and I knew I would always cherish that little artifact like the treasure it was.

We ended our date with an intimate night in our private suite at the poshest hotel in Rome. We were staying away from our cohorts due to the fact some of the other owners requested to get together during our time there, and it would look strange for us to stay so far outside the city limits. It made us all slightly uncomfortable to be separated in that way, but it seemed we didn't have much of a choice. Most of the owners were staying in that hotel, so that's where we had to be.

When the first day of the tournament began, we went into it knowing there could be setbacks, however we weren't prepared for what the Roman committee had to tell us when we were asked to speak to them privately.

"We would like you to fight your vampire in the main event, rather than the shifter," they informed us. "Otherwise the owner of the other vampire in this tournament will pull it out."

"Why?" I asked confused. "The owner of the last vampire we were supposed to face pulled it out last minute as well. Why does this keep happening?"

"In all honesty, the other owners are scared," the man admitted. "That shifter you have is too strong." Edward snorted as a result of the man's words, but luckily they dismissed it. "They don't want to lose their prized fighters. They aren't willing to put them against the shifter," the man continued, "but they are willing to put their vampires up against your vampire."

"Our vampire is one of the strongest vampires in existence," Edward told them. "They aren't afraid of losing their vampires to our vampire?"

"The fact that The Terminator lost to your shifter proves just how strong the shifter is. It has everyone scared. However, knowing The Terminator is coming off of a loss, they feel this is their chance to beat him, and possibly acquire The Terminator for themselves. As for our committee, a vampire versus vampire match is rare these days, and we feel this could only be a good thing for this sport."

"So, you're saying if we don't put in The Terminator, we don't get to enter this tournament at all?" Edward asked through gritted teeth. He was frustrated, and flustered, and understandably upset by the unexpected circumstance, but I needed to make sure he kept his cool.

"We will discuss it privately, and get back to you," I told them, before grabbing Edward's arm and pulling him away.

"It's not happening!" Edward shouted the moment we were back in the privacy of our room. "These idiots actually think Jacob is a better fighter than Emmett? It's fucking ridiculous! If Emmett didn't throw the match, there is no way he would have lost."

"I know, and I agree, but…"

"There are no _buts_ ," he snapped at me. "We didn't get Emmett out of there, just to put him back in. It's not happening. This entire trip was a waste of time, and if these cowards aren't willing to put up their vampires against Jacob, there is nothing left for us to do. We're done!"

"Maybe before we give up, maybe we should at least ask Emmett if he would be willing to go in," I suggested.

"No! I'm not doing that to him. He has no reason to risk his life and his freedom like that. At least Jacob wants to be in there since he is looking for his imprint. Emmett would only be doing it for me, and I'm not going to allow it to happen."

"I understand what you are saying, but think about it for a minute. A lot of these host owners keep their main event fighters in a separate area. I know my dad used to keep Emmett away from the other caged monsters before his matches. If we can't get access to your sister and mother before their fights, we won't be able to tell them to lose. If we can't tell them to lose, there is a good chance they won't. We both know Jacob isn't that skilled. But Emmett is. Emmett can beat them, whereas Jacob would probably get himself torn to pieces, and shifters can't put themselves back together again. He would be killed."

"But if Emmett happens to lose…"

"If Emmett loses," I interrupted him, "The worst thing that will happen is that he will be bought by the winner, and we will just have to convince them to let him face Jacob in a rematch. Convince them he could win and the last time was just a fluke. We won't stop until they agree, and they will fight, and Jacob will win again, and we will get him back. Either way, putting him against your sister and mother is probably for the best. It's our best chance at getting them out."

Edward's jaw locked. "Fine. We leave the decision up to Emmett."

...

Of course, Emmett was never one to turn down a fight, and it seemed he was actually quite excited to be headed into the ring again. Because his return was such a huge draw for the spectators, he didn't need to be in any of the preliminary matches, therefore, his first fight of that tournament, would also be his last.

When the day and time of the main event came far quicker than we would have liked, we nervously made our way to Emmett's pre-match holding cell. But as worried as Edward and I were for him, his mood was practically jubilant.

"We can still call this off," Edward offered.

"No way! We gotta get your family out," Em replied, way too excitedly.

"We can find another way," Edward argued.

"Yeah, but no other way would be this fun. I love ripping vampire heads off. I haven't had a match against another vampire in years. This is going to be awesome!"

"If you lose…"

Emmett's shock and disapproving glare from Edward's words made him shut up mid-speech.

"The Terminator does. Not. Lose," Emmett said with faux dramatic offense.

"But if…"

"Listen kid, there is no _'if'_ or _'lose'_ in my vocabulary."

"You just said both words, which means they are certainly in your vocabulary," Edward argued.

Emmett shook his head incredulously, and then looked at me. "You may have to explain that one to him."

I nodded. "Sure thing."

"I'm going to win," Emmett told us both, without a fraction of a doubt.

"Well, you better. It cost us enough money to get you out the first time," I replied playfully.

Emmett smirked and winked at me.

"Em," Edward said quietly, but again, Emmett stopped him.

"Nope. I'm not letting you tell me some pouty goodbye. Everything will be fine, and I'll see you after the match."

"Emmett," Edward tried again, but Em still wasn't having it.

"Bella, please get him out of here. I don't need any of that whining stuff messing with my mojo."

"Alright, we'll go," Edward relented. "Just be careful. Sometimes you get overly cocky and you lose focus."

Emmett huffed. "Would you just get out of here already!"

"Come on, let's let him focus," I told Edward.

"Alright, alright," Edward finally agreed, before flicking up a half wave towards Em, and then allowing me to tow him out of the cells towards the arena to find our seats.

Because we had to compromise and fight our vampire, Edward and I worked in a deal to get us front row seats. Most owners preferred the box seats, and the front row was left for the high rollers, but we insisted, and luckily, the Roman tournament committee agreed to our terms.

Being that close to the ring was even more traumatic from a spectator standpoint, but it definitely had its advantages for us.

"Stop bitching and focus!" Edward yelled as Emmett began spitting and snarling at the crowd who was surprisingly booing him.

"I'll kill every one of you. The Terminator takes no prisoners!" Emmett continued shouting back at the hecklers.

"You're no _terminator_!" someone in the masses yelled back at him.

"You're a loser!" someone else shouted over the noise.

"You won't think I'm a loser when I come after your children!" Emmett raged at them, nearly coming in contact with the electrified bars that confined him.

"Forget them!" Edward yelled, demanding Emmett's attention. "Focus. Shut them up by winning."

Emmett stared at him for a minute, and despite his fuming demeanor, he took a deep breath, and then nodded.

The crowd continued yelling derogatory things towards Emmett, but thankfully, Em seemed to tune them out as he waited for his opponent.

However, when the second caged vampire was brought into the arena, I was absolutely flabbergasted. "Wow," was all I could think to say. In Edward's memories of his sister, she was always beautiful, however the way she came out looked nothing like how I was expecting. She wasn't wild and enraged like Esme had been the only time I saw her fight, Rosalie looked down right _sexy_.

"Holy mother of all bitches," I heard Emmett say beneath the thunderous applause of the audience as the female strutted around the ring.

Her shinny golden hair was perfectly curled, her makeup was heavy but flawless, and her outfit looked like red bondage lingerie. Her fighting name was _Vixen_ , fittingly so, and that was the name being chanted by the eager crowd. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say Emmett was beginning to chant it too.

"What the hell are you doing?" Edward hissed at Em as he continued to stand there drooling over Rosalie like a lovesick moron.

The blonde bombshell sauntered over to him, and Em was completely mesmerized by her pretty face and the tantalizing way she moved. Apparently, that was her intention. Without him even attempting to defend himself, Rosalie struck Emmett in the arm, making a deafening cracking noise. Emmett hardly flinched, and then he started babbling like an absolute idiot.

"You are the sexiest creature I have ever laid eyes on," Emmett said as he was struck again.

"Emmett!" Edward yelled at him, but Em almost seemed to be in some type of lovesick trance.

With one more hip swaying pass, The Vixen ripped off The Terminator's arm. Even still, Emmett looked at her like the sun set in her ass.

"Damn it, Emmett, you're about to lose!" Edward shouted in one last attempt to snap Emmett out of it.

When it became clear that Emmett was about to be defeated, Edward decided he just couldn't sit back and watch it happen, so he came up with a desperate plan.

"Bella, bite me," he said to me in a hushed rush.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Just do it. Right now!" he insisted.

I didn't understand it, but I leaned in to his neck, making it look like nothing more than a kinky kiss to anyone possibly paying attention, and then bit down.

It was hard to focus on anything else when my teeth sunk into his flesh. The mating bond was so strong that I ached to finish it by having him latch on to my neck in return, but that wasn't the purpose of that bite. Through our connection, I understood his idea, so I complied by letting just a small amount of his blood escape the seal between my lips and his skin. It was just a drop, but it was enough.

Rosalie stopped mid-step, one moment before she was about to inflict the final blow to Emmett, and her head slowly turned to the side where her eyes locked to us.

"Hideous Little Beast!" she screeched. "You're alive… and you're big."

Edward shook his head at her warningly, and somehow she understood that she needed to feign ignorance to his identity.

Then Edward mouthed ' _Lose'_.

She stared at him full of shock and confusion, and then very slowly she nodded once, before turning to the now one-armed Emmett. She walked right over to him, smacked him on his forehead, and then circled herself to the far side of the ring.

As if he suddenly woke up from his trance, Emmett blinked a few times, and then looked around the arena confused, before shaking his head, and locking his glare on Rosalie.

"What did you do to me!" he growled at her. "I'm going to enjoy ripping your sexy little head off!"

Like a ferocious storm, he finally attacked her hard, and the strength of his attack thundered and echoed off of all the walls in the giant underground room. She feigned a pathetic attempt at defending herself, but even with his singular arm, he was able to take her down quickly, and that was it.

Emmett gloated as he jumped around the ring, and threw his fist in the air as he taunted his hackers- "Who's a loser now, bitches! Hope you can still sleep knowing I'm coming for your babies!"

Edward and I each took a simultaneous sigh of relief, and then we immediately headed towards the committee offices to negotiate Rosalie's purchase. Thankfully, it all went smoothly from there, and before the sun rose the following morning, we were watching Eleazar as he meticulously put the two vampires back together.

"She is going to be pissed when she wakes up," Edward mumbled anxiously. "She had her head ripped off once before, and she said it gave her a terrible migraine and she was grumpy for the next half decade."

"Who ripped her head off?" I questioned.

"Some nomad her and my dad got mixed up with. It was long before I was born. She just told me about it once."

"She is lucky I didn't rip out her silky mesmerizing hair when I decapitated her," Emmett said with forced bitterness. "I don't know how she got my arm off, but she had to have cheated somehow."

"Man, you were like a lovesick puppy," I teased him. "It looked more like a gothic romance movie than a fight to the death."

"That's a fucking lie!" he spat.

"No it's not!" Jacob backed me with a snicker. "While El was putting your arm back on you, Edward showed me the fight through his mind thingy he does, and you looked like a pussy whipped buffoon."

Emmett looked to Edward for confirmation that Jake wasn't lying. When Edward responded with a guilty shrug, Em just became even more defensive.

"She did something to me! I'm telling you, that woman has a gift against men. That was probably why her owners wanted her to be put up against me. They knew she could do some kind of voodoo shit."

"I never knew her to be gifted," Edward said in disbelief. "But if she is, and used that gift on you, it wouldn't be cheating. Vampires are allowed to use any and all gifts during matches."

Emmett wanted to argue, but he knew Edward was right. "Damn it!" he shouted in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Em," Edward said sympathetically. "I never would have allowed you to fight if I had known it would be that close. I almost didn't let you fight when I thought you could win easily. But, I do appreciate you risking it all to free my sister. Thank you, man."

Emmett visibly softened. "Awe, little bother, you know I'd do anything for you. Besides, it felt good to be back in the ring."

"The tournaments are disgusting," I said, unsure how he could see it any other way.

"No, the slavery part is disgusting. Being there by choice, by my own free will, that was amazing. I'm not saying I'd enjoy killing creatures, but some nice, brutal, non-lethal, monster matches would surely quench my natural instinct to want to kill innocents."

"Well, I guess if it was all on a voluntary basis like the UFC, it wouldn't be so bad," I agreed, vaguely understanding where he was coming from.

Emmett wrinkled his nose. "Did I really act like a lovesick moron in that ring?"

I nodded, and so did Edward.

"Damn, I don't remember any of that."

"What do you remember?" Edward asked him curiously.

"I was in the ring - totally pumped and ready to go - then I watched her saunter over to me with her banging hot bod…. and then, nothing. You sure she isn't some kind of witch?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Edward replied casually.

"I had to have been hypnotized or something. The Terminator doesn't lose unless on purpose, and the wench almost took me down for real. Something just isn't right."

"Maybe you've just gone soft," Jacob razzed him.

"The fuck I have!"

"Shush now, she is waking up," Eleazar insisted.

Rosalie's eyes opened slowly, and the first things she did after fully regaining total control of herself, was search out Edward. She wrapped her arms around him, and gushed about how big he was and how much she loved him. Then, she turned to Emmett, and that was when all hell broke loose…


	26. Heads Up

**Chapter 26 – Heads Up**

When Rosalie's eyes locked on Emmett, she erupted in a fit of rage and violence. Her attack on him was swift and vicious, and Emmett did more than just try to defend himself, he fought back, and he fought without mercy.

Shrilling screams, thunderous growls, and deafening pounding filled the countryside where we were currently located. The terrifying noises carried over the hills and into the valley below, which definitely alarmed Eleazar.

"We have to stop them."

"Nah, let them go," Jacob disagreed. "It's not like they can actually kill each other without fire."

I looked to Edward for his reaction, and although he was watching the fight intently, he didn't look too concerned about their safety.

"No, it's not about them potentially killing each other," Eleazar argued. "The noise. If someone hears…"

"We are out in the boonies," Jake cut him off. "Who is going to hear them? Let them go. This is the most entertainment I've had in months."

"Edward?" I asked, looking for his opinion.

"They can't really hurt each other…" Edward's words were halted mid-sentence when Rosalie disappeared into the cottage, and she reemerged with a lighter. How she knew where it was, I had no idea.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Edward yelled at her, finally stepping in to intervene. "Stop it."

"Move out of the way, Beasty, I'm going to make a nice big bonfire to warm you up," Rosalie said sadistically, but with a hint of underlying sweetness.

"It's rather hot here actually," Edward told her. "No need for any fires. Emmett is my friend, you can't just kill him."

"She is sick and twisted, Edward!" Em shouted angrily. "I think she has rabies, or maybe it's mad cow disease."

"Can vampires even contract those diseases?" I asked Edward quietly. He shook his head no.

"We should put her out of her misery," Em continued. "Get the lighter from her so I can end this before someone important gets killed."

"Someone like you," Rose replied condescendingly. "The poor pathetic little creature is scared. Trust me Beasty, you don't want, or need, friends like him. Let me set him ablaze and be done with it."

When Rosalie clicked the lighter on, and lunged forward like she was about to attack him with it, Eleazar had enough.

"Rosalie!" he shouted at her. "Your father would be ashamed of you right now."

She finally paused. "Eleazar? Oh my, what are you doing here?" she cried, clearly emotional to see her coven-member. I expected them to hug, but instead they lifted their hands up towards each other, so that all their fingertips were touching, and then they gently rested their foreheads together. It was an odd greeting, but it seemed to be just what they did.

"What are you doing here?" Rosalie asked Eleazar when they finally pulled away from their version of an embrace. "I never thought I'd see you outside of South America."

"Edward found me and told me what happened to you and your father. How could I not come?"

"Oh, you met Beasty," she said, just coming to that realization. "Isn't he so handsome? He is so much bigger than he was the last time I saw him. You should see all the amazing things he can do. Beasty, show Eleazar how you can share your visions."

"I have already experienced his incredible mind many times since we met," Eleazar assured her.

"Oh… Well, of course you have. He certainly has a way of stealing the hearts of everyone who meets him," she said adoringly.

I raised a brow at Edward, who had previously claimed he hardly ever met anyone as a child because of how protective his parents were. As a response to my questioningly look, Edward rolled his eyes and shook his head no, which I took to mean Rosalie was either just telling a story, or greatly exaggerating in her pride for her baby brother.

Rose gushed about Edward to Eleazar for a few more minutes, before she was distracted by her family's new cohorts.

"Okay, what is up with the shifter?" Rose questioned while glaring at Jacob. "He is a shifter, right? He smells to high heavens. I faced one a few years back, and they are nasty creatures."

"You fought a shifter?" Jake asked concerned. "Who was it? Did you lose bad, or did the shifter let you put up a fight?"

Rose laughed once. "Oh, it talks. That's cute… kind of."

"Was the shifter hurt at all?" Jake pressed eagerly with underlying concern.

"Maybe it's not so cute that it talks after all," Rose countered herself.

"Please, that could have been my family you fought. I need this information."

"Is this your pet, or something?" Rose asked Edward.

"Can you just answer his question?" Edward asked her. "He has been helping us, and in return we promised to try to help him find his family. Any information you could give him on the shifter you fought, would be appreciated."

Rosalie sighed. "I wouldn't really consider it a fight. I basically snapped the thing in two after a minute of it huffing around the ring."

Jacob's eyes grew in panic.

Edward stepped towards his sister, and held out his hand to her before demanding – "Show me."

She knew exactly what he was asking, so she grudgingly agreed. Their minds were only connected briefly, but apparently it was enough for Edward to get a clear image of her past opponent in his mind. He then took that image, and brought it to Jacob. The moment he put it in Jake's mind, Jake visibly relaxed. "I don't know that shifter."

"Thank god," I told him supportively, but I was also thankful for the fact that our group would not need to be separated by an old match that was out of any of our control.

Rosalie's reunion with Eleazar, followed by her exchange with Jacob, had calmed her, but more importantly, distracted her from her scuffle with Emmett. However, when Em moved from his previous position to head into the cottage, Rosalie took notice, and the anger between them reignited.

"Eleazar, please protect my baby brother for a minute while I take care of that issue," Rose said while pointing at Emmett.

Em's line of sight locked back on her, and like the first roll of thunder after the eye of the storm, the two collided in fury once more.

Between snarls and growling from both sides, I could hear Emmett trying to convince Rosalie to stop before he snapped her neck. She didn't listen, and she didn't give him even the smallest chance to overcome her. Granted, Em seemed to be mostly defensive at that point, but they were both only getting angrier with every blow.

"Rosalie, you need to stop!" Eleazar tried getting through to her again, but it wasn't working.

Edward tried getting between them too, but they were like two wild animals fighting for survival. With vampires' limitless energy and time, I was beginning to wonder what it would take to finally get them to stop.

But then it happened. I had an incessant itch on my shin that wouldn't allow me to ignore it for a moment longer. The second I bent over to scratch it, a buzzing sound whizzed just over my head, and struck Rosalie right in her shoulder.

"What the hell?" she hissed as she pulled out what looked like a sparkling bullet. It was obviously painful to her since she threw it immediately like it was scolding hot. We all froze in shock for an unbearably long moment, before everything erupted in pure chaos.

The sound of guns firing was the only thing I seemed to be able to focus on as a group of around ten armed men invaded our space. Rose and Em stopped fighting each other, and mutually turned their attack on the men. Jacob was fighting too, as was Eleazar.

With bullets continuously whizzing past my head, I ducked under the picnic table on the cottage porch, and as crazy as it sounded, no one seemed to take notice of me there. The men clearly weren't there for me anyway, so I was able to take a couple moments to assess the situation. I initially assumed our assailants were the creature hunters, however they didn't wear the uniforms, and seemed far less trained. They did, however, appear to possess the same weapons the hunters had. How, or why, they were attacking us, I didn't know, but what I did know was that my friends sure as hell weren't going down without a fight.

The yard of our little rented cottage was a battle field. All of my cohorts were taking hits, but thankfully they seemed like they were just the painful shocking types of bullets, and nothing lethal. Even still, it had to have been tough to remain fighting, which they all did. They took out several of the men rather quickly, but seemingly out of nowhere, another van pulled up, and out poured another group of armed men to join the battle.

Amid the chaos, I locked eyes with Edward. He was across the field next to Emmett, who appeared to be shielding the far too vulnerable, mostly human hybrid. Edward would move to try to get closer to where I was, and thankfully Emmett would move with him. I knew he was trying to get to me, but we were just too far apart.

When a third group of men arrived on the scene, it became too much, so we needed to get out of there if we wanted to survive. In the cloud of smoke and dust caused by the confrontation, I lost sight of Edward, but I knew Em was with him, so I began creeping towards our rented car behind the cottage. I was within sight of it, when suddenly the car exploded.

"Holy shit!" I gasped.

It felt like the climax of some sort of action sci-fi movie, but the reality of it was terrifying. I didn't know what to do or where to go from there, and I found myself locked in some sort of surrealistic daze. A couple of the men rounded the back to where I was, and everything felt like it was in slow motion as I watched them running towards me with their guns pointed directly at my head.

I wanted to run. I told myself to move, but the connection between my brain and legs seemed to be temporarily out of order. I heard one of the men's guns go off, so I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut, and then suddenly I was flying.

I felt the wind in my face first, and then the gentle, yet firm, grasp to my waist. I didn't understand it, so I peeked my eyes opened and was shocked to see who had me.

"Hi," Rosalie's silky voice said through her wide smile.

"Uh-hi," I replied, at a loss as to what else to say or do. We came to rest a little ways away, and I had trouble taking my eyes off of her. The blonde vampire was even more beautiful up close, but I couldn't forget the fact that she was absolutely deadly, and we had yet to even have a single conversation. She didn't know who I was, and I didn't know if she was going to try to eat me.

Since we seemed to be at a safe distance from the battle, she turned to look at me questionably. "Why do you smell like my brother?"

I couldn't decipher her tone, so I wasn't exactly sure how to respond. "Um…"

"Oh look, another van is coming," she said, pointing towards the road at the bottom of the hill we were on. "I think it's time to move to a new location. That big oaf better have Beasty like he said he did, or I'm going to rip off both his arms, and then his head, and burn the pieces before Eleazar has a chance to put him back together." Without me having a chance to respond to her, she changed topics. "You know, you look familiar. You're not one of those nasty Higginbotham humans, are you?"

"Uh… no," I lied. Technically, and rather unfortunately, I was a Higginbotham by blood, but it certainly wasn't anything I'd be willing to admit, especially to her.

"I just don't understand why my baby brother has surrounded himself with such weird creatures. A shifter, a strange smelling human with an odd heartbeat, and that pitiful vampire who thinks he is tough. What is Eleazar thinking allowing any of it?"

"Eleazar didn't _allow_ it. Everyone is here because Edward asked them to help him rescue your family," I told her timidly. "This is all mostly his idea."

"Well, it goes to show how silly and simple minded you creatures are to follow a child. Now that I'm here I will take over his care."

"Uh, Edward isn't a child. He is older than my grandfather."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Your lifespan is much shorter than ours. In vampire years, Edward is an adolescent at most."

"Oh," I said, not knowing how else to respond.

"As soon as we get back to Eleazar, we will head to Brazil. That's where my father would want us to go," she added.

"Edward is not going to want to go back there. At least not until he frees Esme and your father. And we promised to help our friend find his imprint."

"Hush now, human. I'm going to go back to find Edward, and I need you to be quiet, just in case those little maggots with guns are still hanging around. I don't want to have to snap your neck, since I think my brother must feed off of you, or something, but I will if you make too much noise. Okay?"

I bit my bottom lip nervously, but did as I was told. She carried me effortlessly back to the cottage, and we hid behind a bush as we surveyed the damage. The men were still there, but thankfully they were no longer fighting, and didn't appear to have any of our friends in their custody. They were just going through our things, and walking around aimlessly. We didn't watch them long, after only a couple minutes, Rose grabbed me again and we were on our way.

She must have been following a scent, because after several miles, we entered a small ravine where all of our friends were convened.

Edward and I locked eyes, and the relief in his was immeasurable. "Are you okay?" he asked intensely as he closed the distance between us. He wrapped me in his arms and kissed my head sweetly. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get to you," he murmured against my skin.

"I'm just glad everyone is okay," I told him. Then I pulled away to check him for wounds. "Are you okay? Were you hit?"

"Nothing bad," he replied through gritted teeth. "I can't believe this happened. How the hell did they find us?"

"Do you think they were the creature hunters?" I asked, not believing it myself. "They weren't like the ones that chased us away from my house."

"Perhaps the Roman division is just different than the American one," Eleazar suggested.

"Those weren't creature hunters," Rose chimed in. "I recognized some of them."

"You did?" Edward asked her surprised. "Who were they?"

"My owner is the richest man in Italy, and he doesn't like to always follow the rules, so he hires goons to do his dirty work. I'm sure those men were there to take me back illegally."

Edward was absolutely fuming, and even though I wasn't exactly surprised since all the owners were moral-less jackasses, I was mad too. We sat with that man. He acted like a gracious host, and regardless of knowing none of those people were trustworthy, we weren't expecting such dirty poor sportsmanship among the more "sophisticated" owners. We should have known better.

As angry as I was, I was still infinitely grateful our entire group made it out of there intact. Edward, on the other-hand, wasn't willing to let it go.

"Where are you going?" I asked him in a slight panic when he began walking off without explanation.

"I'm going to confront him," he said without pausing his stride.

I ran to catch up with him. "Edward, that's crazy. Why would you even think to do something like that?"

"Because this is ridiculous, and I'm not letting him get away with it."

"Edward, Rosalie's former owner just tried to have us killed. If you walk into his place, he will kill you for sure."

He shook his head. "He didn't try to kill us, Bella, he wanted to scare us, and he wanted his vampire back. If we just look the other way when stuff like this happens, it will keep happening. The other owners don't respect us, so I need to go down there and demand their respect."

I looked to our friends, hoping for someone to step up and talk some sense into him, but they all seemed perfectly fine with it. It was crazy.

"I can't believe none of you are concerned about this," I said incredulously.

"Mister Moretti is a power hungry buffoon, but he's not stupid," Rose said. "He would never attack someone in his home, with all of the real creature hunters around, and the tournament committee close by. Edward should be okay."

"Fine, I'm going with you," I said to Edward. I didn't agree with Rosalie at all, so I needed to be with Edward just in case something happened. Why I thought I could protect Edward, I had no idea, but it was something I felt deep inside my gut, and I had been feeling that way since I first saw him in my basement, locked in his cage. Somehow, someway, someday, I was going to save Edward from something, I just sincerely hoped that day hadn't come just yet.

"Bella, it's too dangerous," Edward tried arguing with me, but I wasn't going to take it.

"Either it's too dangerous for both of us, or we will both be fine. Regardless, we stay together," I said unwaveringly.

Edward locked his jaw, and then spoke through it. "Fine, let's go."

Eleazar ran ahead at vampire speed, and met us a mile down the road with a new car. He drove us into the heart of Rome, where the tournament facility was hidden below ground.

Once we got inside, I was surprised to see how bustling it still was. Staff members were moving about, cleaning up from the week's event, which made sense, I suppose I just wasn't expecting so many people around. It made me feel better and worse at the same time. If anything happened there would be witnesses, then again, they were all Mr. Moretti's witnesses, so I wasn't sure if they would detour him from attacking us.

Edward and I walked past everyone, and used our temporary access codes to get into the lower level. Luckily, they were still active and we were able to make our way right to the business offices. Without even knocking, Edward stormed right in, and luckily, we caught Mr. Moretti alone, sitting at his desk.

"Well, this is a surprise," he said with his slithery creepy voice.

"It's a surprise because we survived your attack?" Edward spat.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he feigned ignorance.

"Bullshit," I said, keeping calm but refusing to listen to his lies.

"We know they were your men," Edward added. "And we know you sent them to steal The Vixen back from us."

Mr. Moretti smirked, and slyly clicked a button under his desk, assumedly signaling his guards to come rescue him. His next words shocked them hell out of me…

"Tell me, Miss Swan, how do you keep the hybrid under control?"

My eyes grew large, but Edward's face didn't change. He just stared him down, and refused to give away even a hint of whatever he was thinking through his expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied, trying to play dumb the way he had. I wasn't very convincing.

"You don't remember me, do you, Miss Swan?" he asked me in his heavy Italian accent. "I was sitting with your father the night you surprised him at the tournament at Swan Manor. When I met you here, you looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place you. It wasn't until I saw my vampire completely give up in the ring that it occurred to me. That hybrid is very gifted indeed. Charles told me how it has a way to control people and creatures with its mind. That is the only explanation I could have for my vampire giving up, and I assume that is how you won your previous matches as well. What amazes me is how you got it to appear so human," he said while looking at Edward. "I would have never guessed this was the same creature."

Mr. Moretti took a cautious step closer to Edward, as if he wanted a better look, and then like a strike of lightning, his neck was suddenly in Edward's hands.

I gasped, but Edward remained calm. "Look away, Bella."

"My men will be here any second, and you'll both be dead," Mr. Moretti threatened.

"Look away," Edward repeated sternly.

I was immediately shaking, but I did as he told me. I heard the snap, and I reflexively jumped. As much as I understood why he did it, it was still difficult to stand by as Edward murdered someone. A tear spilled over my cheek, before I took a deep breath, and reopened my eyes.

"His men are coming. How will we get out of here?" I asked with a shaky voice.

Before Edward had a chance to answer me, the door busted open and a group of men ran inside. Edward immediately dropped to the ground, and repositioned his hands on Mr. Moretti's neck, to make it look like he was feeling for a pulse.

"We came to thank him before we traveled home, and found him like this. My wife pressed the panic button to get help," Edward said quickly but calmly.

One of the men bent down to try to feel for a pulse himself.

"He's dead," the man confirmed. He directed a different man to go get someone, and then he proceeded to question us.

Edward didn't miss a beat as he easily, and convincingly, answered everything. The man looked a little confused, but when the other committee heads made their way into the room, they let us go. Thankfully Mr. Moretti apparently hadn't informed them about his suspicions, which also made sense. If he thought he could steal back Rosalie, and possibly take Edward for himself, he wasn't going to do it "legally".

"He must have told someone," I said, still in a panic as we hurried away from the facility.

"I don't think so," Edward disagreed. "Rosalie even said his hired goons never know why they are ordered to do anything, they just do it. And the tournament committee likes their so-called rules, so I doubt he told any of them."

"What's going to happen when they do an autopsy and discover he died of a broken neck? They're going to come after us."

"That man had a ton of underground dealings. There are a number of people who probably wanted him dead, including his own family members, who will now inherit his estate."

"But we are the ones who were with him when he died," I argued.

"No, as I told the men, we found him like that."

I was nervous about continuing on to the next tournament, but the last thing I'd want to do is give up on freeing his family needlessly. So we would tentatively move forward with our next breakout. We knew where his mother was, and we would take the risk to free her.

When we got back to where we left our friends, we were greeted with another shocking sight…

"What have you done now?" Eleazar asked exasperated as he exited the driver's seat of the car. Jacob was sitting in a tree, looking somewhere between scared and excited, and Rosalie was sitting on a rock, casually stroking Emmett's hair on his decapitated head in her lap.

"Things happened," Jacob said from up in his tree. "It got intense. I'm not staying alone with those two ever again."

"He mouthed off again. He's lucky I didn't set him on fire," Rosalie said defensively. Then she looked down at his head, and continued stroking. "But he is kind of pretty," she admitted facetiously.

Edward huffed. "Give his head to Eleazar so he can put him back together again. We need to get out of this country as soon as possible."

Eleazar went on to scold Rosalie, to which she kept rolling her eyes like a sullen teenage being berated by a parent.

It took a couple hours for Emmett to regain consciousness, and then we headed towards the airport.

Next stop was Australia to rescue Esme. The tricky part was knowing, without a doubt, that I had also previously met Esme's owner when he was with her at my home. We would need to skip the pre-tournament events, and keep a low profile if we wanted to get out of there alive. It was definitely going to be the biggest risk yet, but on the plus side, we were just that much closer to reuniting Edward's family…


	27. Boomerang

**Chapter 27 – Boomerang**

As we traveled to Australia, we insisted that Emmett and Rosalie keep their distance. Eleazar or Edward had to between them at all times, and thankfully, the two hostile vampires did their best to ignore each other.

The trip started out smooth enough. Rose was very interested in anything and everything Edward would tell her about their time apart. She spent a few hours of our private flight silently watching his mind, and she was utterly fascinated the entire time. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly he was showing her, but after a while, I realized it was none of my business and ended up falling asleep.

I woke up some time later, and gasped at the close proximity of Rose's face to mine.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said quietly. "You're drooling, by the way."

I sat up quickly, and dried my mouth, before looking around the plane cabin to see what everyone was doing. Eleazar and Emmett were both reading quietly to themselves, Jacob was snoring towards the back, and Edward was sitting on the other side of me, sleeping soundly against the window. I was tempted to wake him, but he looked so peaceful, and I took comfort just knowing he was that close.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked Rose, wondering why she was sitting so awkwardly close to me.

"I think it's cute, by the way. I just want you to know that," she said, only confusing me even more.

"What is cute?"

"That my baby brother has a little girlfriend. He wouldn't show me much about your relationship, and I think he didn't mean to show me anything at all, but I saw a few little glimmers of him staring at you with his heart fluttering, and you two holding hands, and whatnot..."

"Oh, they do a lot more than holding hands," Emmett interjected with a mischievous grin. "They go at each other like two twitterpated Nymph Demons during spring. I'm so proud of him."

Rosalie's glare at Emmett's audacious vocalization slowly turned towards me, and her eyes were raging.

Her deathly stare made my stomach drop, and as much as I didn't want to wake Edward, I honestly feared for my life. My hand automatically grabbed onto his arm, and I pushed my mind into his, interrupting whatever confusing dream he was having. It took him a moment to understand what was happening, but when he finally came to, he was just irritated more than anything else.

"Rosalie, what is your issue now?"

"I don't know, Beasty. Either that moronic oaf is lying, or you have been assaulted by this human. Sex with a child is a crime you know," she hissed at me.

Edward huffed. "Okay, Bella is my mate, so you need to back off before I'm the one ripping your head off and striking a match. What we do, is none of your business. I'm not the helpless child I was when we were separated, so stop treating me as such. And you really need to stop with the stupid nicknames as well. That's Emmett, not _Oaf_ , and I'm not Hideous Little Beast, or any other immature variations of that. If you can't respect me, and my friends who helped free you, then we need to part ways."

Rosalie stared him down, but I couldn't decipher her expression. For an incredibly long heavy couple of moments, I worried she would lash out, but to my surprise, she remained calm.

"You have a mate? A human mate? I didn't even know that was possible," she said gently as her entire demeanor softened. "I mean, for a while when Esme was still human I felt such a strong connection to her that I wondered if she would end up being my mate after she was turned, but I never considered it to be a possibility while she was human."

"Is Esme your mate?" I asked confused, still not really understanding the concept of Asexual mates.

"No. I mean, I love Esme, but our connection never reached that level."

"How do you know the difference?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know, it's instinctual I suppose. How did you know you were mates?"

"We didn't. We didn't even know what mates were until Eleazar told us," Edward explained.

"But we always had a strong connection though, we just didn't understand it," I told her.

"When the soul sees its other half, it can be confusing," Eleazar chimed in. "Some may even fight the feeling because of just how intense it is, or they may miss it in the beginning because their mind is too busy elsewhere, but ultimately, everyone will give in to the mating call. It isn't even a choice. It would be like denying joy, or even denying the best part of oneself."

"Eleazar, why did you just look at me so intensely when you mentioned fighting the feeling?" Rose asked with restrained irritation.

"I think you know why."

"Ugh, don't even go there," she said full of disgust.

"What am I missing?" I asked Edward.

"I have no idea," he replied.

"Rosalie knows what I'm speaking of, as does Emmett."

I looked at Emmett, but he just looked perplexed. Then it occurred to me.

"Wait," I said slowly with an awestruck giggle. "You think Em and Rosalie are…"

"Every hateful word they throw at each other is a boldface lie," Eleazar affirmed.

"That is _not_ true!" Rose denied.

"That is also a lie," Eleazar retorted. "Rosalie, you know I detect deceit, that is my gift. You can't fool me with falsified emotions, even when those emotions are directed towards someone else. You have very strong feelings for Emmett, you've just convinced yourself they're negative feelings, because negative feelings are all you know how to have after everything you've experienced over the last century."

"I knew you had the hots for me!" Emmett shouted unexpectedly. "When I asked you on a date, the moment you answered me by ripping my head off, I knew it! I just want you to know, the feeling is mutual. I have never been so attracted to any woman in my entire existence."

"The mating bond isn't sexual," Rose spat. "It has nothing to do with dating, and I ripped your head off because you repulse me. There is no way in hell that you're my mate."

"She's still lying, right El?" Emmett asked.

Eleazar nodded. "Definitely. Give her some time, she will come around."

"This is utter nonsense!" Rosalie erupted. "I haven't been around many mated pairs before, but you and father are practically twins. Me and this oaf…" She glanced at Edward for a moment, and then corrected herself. "Me and Emmett are nothing alike. We are not mates."

"You don't have to be alike to be mates," Eleazar told her. "Mates have twin souls, it's true, but there are many variations of twins as well. Carlisle and I are like identical twins, whereas Edward and Bella are more like fraternal twins. They complement each other, but are not exactly the same. I believe you and Emmett are mirror twins. Meaning, you are the exact opposite of each other. You may fight and bicker, but you will soon come to realize, opposites can be a very good thing."

"How so?" Rose asked bitterly.

"Because as you pull, Emmett will push, and when you're standing opposite of each other, you will end up going the same way. You're more alike than you think, and I don't have a doubt you will find a way to coexist into a beautiful union."

"If they don't kill each other first," Edward mumbled under his breath.

Rosalie sulked silently for the rest of the flight, whereas Emmett could hardly keep the smile off of his face. I suppose it made sense that a guy like Em would be attracted and excited by a personality like Rosalie's. She was bitchy, and vicious, and as long as she didn't set Em on fire, he was going to love every moment of it. The two were definitely going to be fighting for dominance, and I was unashamedly excited to see which one would prevail.

I wasn't sure if it was what Edward had said to her, or if she was secretly happy about finding her mate, but after that flight Rosalie was surprisingly pleasant to be around – or, at least, she was to me.

"Hey Bella, I really don't want to offend you, but would you mind if I worked on your hair a bit? It just looks like it's growing out from the color you put in, and it could probably use a deep moisturizer since bleach is so harsh of a chemical."

We had just settled in to our newest rural rental in the outback, when Rosalie approached me about a makeover. She was clearly concerned about hurting my feelings, but the truth was the exact opposite. It was nice to have another girl around for a change, and I could only be appreciative of her help. My roots were definitely growing out, and in our current location, I couldn't just run to a salon, however there was a small store in the closest town that carried at-home boxed dye.

"Actually, I would love some help. Thank you," I told her graciously.

"I'll run to town with you," Eleazar told Rosalie. "There are a few things I'd like to pick up, including some more birth control for you," he told me. "You must be just about ready for another dose."

I nodded in agreement.

"Birth control?" Rosalie asked. "Does that work when she is with a supernatural being?"

"The birth control affects her, and has nothing to do with him," Eleazar explained. "It has worked this long, and I see no reason why it wouldn't work in the future."

"It would actually be kind of neat to see what type of child the two of you could produce," Rose said wistfully. " _Eventually_ , that is, when you're not children anymore. How old are you, anyway Bella? If you don't mind me asking."

"I'm seventeen. Actually, I think I must be eighteen now. I guess I have kind of lost track of normal human stuff like birthdays. But, I honesty don't think babies are in the cards for us. We plan on changing me into a vampire as soon as we are finished freeing your family."

"You may regret it," Rose offered. "I wish I had the ability to have a baby."

"I've never been a baby person," I disagreed. "I'm just anxious to join all of you in immortality, so Edward and I can always stay together."

"But Edward is only half vampire. Who knows how long he will live for," she argued gently.

"He hasn't aged in decades," Eleazar told her. "It's safe to say he is just as immortal as we are."

"He wasn't aging on his blood diet, but he may be now with his more human diet. He looks pretty mortal to me right now."

"And I'm sure that will change again when he goes back to his vampire diet," Eleazar said unconcerned. "Come now, let's get going so we can be back before morning."

"Before morning?" I asked, realizing it was fairly late in the evening. "Nothing will be open at this hour."

"Which is exactly why we need to leave now," Rosalie said with a wink.

"We will need to visit a store with a pharmacy to get your medication. Most places won't sell it without a doctor's prescription, so going after hours is the only way to acquire it," El explained. "Fear not, child, I do leave money in the register."

"Hey, can I come to the store with you guys?" Emmett asked.

"Fuck off!" Rose snapped at him, before disappearing out the door.

"God, I love that woman," Emmett said with a huge smile.

"I better go catch up with her," Eleazar said, before following her away.

Emmett waited for them on the front porch, as Edward, Jacob, and I turned in for the night.

When the sun came up the following morning, we were surprised to find Emmett still sitting on the porch, but he was in the process of letting Eleazar reattach his arm once again.

"Now what happened?" Edward whined.

Eleazar just grimaced, but Emmett seemed perfectly happy. "It happened. Rosalie and I are mated for eternity," he said excitedly while using his good arm to showing us the fresh bite mark on his neck. "She wasn't too happy about it, but damn that woman is amazing."

"Um, why did she do it if she didn't want to?" I asked perplexed.

"Oh, she wanted it, she just got pissed at herself for wanting it," Emmett replied. "She yanked off my arm afterwards in a fit of rage, but it's all good. She took off running somewhere, but I know she will be back. After a night like that, how could she not need to come back for more? It was amazing. I might not even miss sex anymore."

"So all that lovesick crap you did in the tournament ring when you faced her was just this mating stuff?" Jacob asked him, sounding slightly disappointed for some weird unknown reason.

"Dude, I still don't know what happened with all that. I remember every incredibly moment I've had with her since then, so I have no idea why I blacked out during the match. Still doesn't make sense to me."

"She never offered any kind of explanation?" I asked him.

"Nope."

"Man, that sucks," Jacob added.

"Why do you care?" Edward asked him.

"Because, if she had some kind of dubious love spell kind of extra ability, it could potentially help us later on, or something."

"How?" I asked clueless.

"I don't know, charm some guards to letting us in the cages, or giving us information to find my family. Something."

"If she had that ability, she would have used it to escape a long time ago," Edward pointed out.

"Oh, yeah I guess I didn't think of that."

Rosalie returned sometime later, and acted as if nothing changed. She did her best to hide Emmett's mark on her neck, but otherwise tried to ignore her new mate as if he didn't even exist.

We got right to work on my hair, and after just a couple hours, I looked like I had just spent the day at a fancy salon.

"Wow, it looks incredible," I said while admiring my soft platinum locks in the mirror. "Thank you," Rosalie."

"When my father and I were living amongst the humans, I would read all those beauty magazines and get ideas on how I would change my appearance if I could," she explained as she played with one of my strands.

"Why couldn't you?" I asked curiously. "Did your father not allow it, or something?"

She smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in her amber irises. "No, he wouldn't have cared. Unfortunately, vampire hair isn't able to be dyed. Our cells, even our hair follicles, purifies any damage we may sustain, and I suppose chemically altering the pigment of hair is a type of damage. I did try painting my hair once, like with actual paint. It didn't last, and just made a huge mess."

"Oh, well your hair is beautiful, so it would be a shame to dye it anyway," I told her, trying to be encouraging.

"Yes, it's beautiful, but after so long, a little change like that would be nice. When I was a child, my hair would get these little reddish streaks in the summer. It wasn't much, but it was a nice change. I had cute little freckles too, I suppose it was nothing more than sun damage, but I miss having the ability to change."

"I guess I can see that. How did you become a vampire anyway?" I asked, realizing Edward never explained her origin. He once mentioned his father was a minister in his human life, but I didn't know how he, or Rosalie, became vampires. It wasn't really important information, but I was having a nice time with Rose, and I suppose I just wanted the conversation to continue.

Rose hesitated, so I quickly told her, "If I'm prying, please just ignore me."

"No, I don't mind speaking of it, it's just been a long time and I was trying to figure out where I should start. My father changed me, of course, so I guess the beginning of my story starts at the beginning of his. Did Edward tell you how our father was bitten?"

"No. He was so young when you all were separated, so I'm not sure if he even knows himself."

She nodded. "I suppose we never really told him. Our father was a minister of a small rural community in Illinois. My mother was the perfect minister's wife, so devout and stern with her beliefs and how I was to be raised. She was a good woman. As long as you lived your life for god, she would do anything for you."

"That's good, right?" I asked, since she made it sound like it was a bad thing.

"It is, to an extent. She loved my father until it came to the time he needed her the most. There was a boy in our town, who disappeared in the surrounding woods. He was gone for a few days, and when they found him, he was withering in pain. The town doctor couldn't help him, so his parents were convinced he was possessed by a demon, of some sort."

"That's horrible."

She nodded again. "They asked my father to come see if there was anything he could do for him, and as he leaned in to the boy to get a better understanding of what was wrong, the boy's eyes popped open, and he attacked my father. It took everyone in that room, screaming, and hitting, and trying to pull the boy away, before they got him off of him. The boy ended up jumping out the window, never to be seen again. My dad didn't know what was happening to him, but he crawled to the woods as well, and somehow understood it was best to keep his distance for a while. He was gone six months, and when he finally came home, my mother freaked out."

"Did she think he was dead?" I questioned.

"She didn't know what happened to him, but she didn't care either. The town basically decided the demon in the boy had possessed him too, so she cast him out. He had total control of himself by then. He wouldn't have hurt anyone, he could have stayed with us, but she refused to allow it. I was ten years old at the time, but I remember it like yesterday. I remember crying and begging her to let him stay. I didn't care if he had cold pale skin and red eyes. I thought he was a zombie, but he was still my father. He kissed the top of my head, and told me he would always be with me, and I took comfort in that."

"So, you didn't see him again?"

"Not for nine more years. I didn't know it then, but my father never left. He lived out in the woods; he never made contact, but he was always watching me, making sure I was safe. He would even leave me little gifts on my window, and without _knowing_ they were from him, I knew. Then, when I was nineteen, I was attacked by my then boyfriend and his friends. They left me for dead. My father later told me he had been away hunting at the time, but smelled my blood upon his return. He said he just couldn't let me die… and I spent the next couple decades wishing that he had. I was so angry with him for turning me. I was raised by my mother, and I hated what I had become. I tried returning to her too, but she cast me out the same way she had him. It was heartbreaking at the time."

"I'm sure it was. How could it not be," I said understandingly.

"I hated being a vampire, and I rebelled from my father for a while. He felt guilty, of course, but everything he ever did was for me. He worked at that Higginbotham lab in order to keep me safe, and then, after we left there, and we found our way to Eleazar, my father left his mate in order to help me find my own happiness. My father is truly selfless, and it took me so long to understand that. He even resisted his feelings for Esme because he thought it would upset me. She was my friend, and he wanted to respect that."

"So, what made him be with her after all?"

"Esme was only human at the time. She knew what we were, but she didn't understand that she was with us because I wanted her there. She was almost like a pet to me. She wasn't my mate, but I considered her mine anyway. Then, when she came to me and confided her feelings for my father, I was upset. I guess being upset is just what I do best," she said ashamedly. "They resisted each other for a long time because of me. It wasn't until Esme almost died from an infection that I realized how wrong I was. My father wanted to change her, but I wouldn't allow it because at the time, I would have rather her just die. I was absolutely horrible. Thankfully she pulled through, and I told them I was sorry. They loved each other, and finally with my blessing, they planned to go back to Brazil to change her in the private safety of the island. Well, we never made it. She got pregnant rather quickly, and she was in no condition to travel."

"So, she was changed after Edward was born?"

"Edward actually changed her. He bit her the moment he was placed on her stomach. It's a good thing he did, she was definitely dying. The three of us just fell madly in love with the little beast, and again, we meant to take him to Brazil, but he was just growing too fast, and we all worried we wouldn't have much time with him. It was my idea to take him to the Higginbotham lab. I figured his life was only possible because of the experiments my dad did on himself there, so someone there had to be able to help us. We were hoping for a way to slow his aging. When we got there, they said they would help us, but we were torn apart, and that was the last time we saw each other. I just remember Esme screaming for Edward, and little Edward was so terrified as they ripped him from her arms. Even now, after everything I have been through, that was the worst thing I ever witnessed."

"I cant even imagine," I said, feeling sick from just thinking about it.

"Bella, I think I owe you an apology. I don't know why I act the way that I do. I wish I could blame the trauma of the tournaments, but I was like this long before them. I suppose I just don't understand relationships."

"Well, lucky for you, it seems Emmett isn't going to back down," I said carefully. "I think you could be really happy with him, if you just let yourself be."

She sighed heavily, and then a hint of a smile played on the corner of her lips. "In all honesty, just between us girls, I've liked him from the first moment I saw him in the arena. I was hoping to beat him so my owner would buy him, and I could spend the next indefinite amount of time torturing him."

"I think he'd like that," I said with a giggle. "So, did you do something to him during that match? He swears he can't remember half of the time he was in that arena with you."

Her features dropped, and her mood visibly darkened. "That temporary hypnotic gift was curtsey of my owner. There is a vampire, her name is Chelsea. She has a gift of controlling the minds of vampires. She isn't a fighter, but they have her locked up in one of the labs. My owner purchased some of her venom, and through some kind of scientific mumbo-jumbo, they created a serum. He shoves it down my throat before a match, and for the next three hours I have a weaker variation of her ability. My owner dresses me like Prostitute Barbie, and then the spectators just think the males I'm up against can't resist my beauty, but really it's me just using Chelsea's power. It wears off in both me and my victim, but I'm sure that was what Emmett was feeling in the ring, not our mating pull. It all just makes me so angry. Everything about this world makes me angry."

"Wow," was all I could think to say.

"Yeah, wow is right. I'd say it's cheating, but all the owners screw with different things in their labs, and invent shit to give their monsters an extra boost in the arena. It's all ridiculous."

"Edward never said anything about my father messing with him in that way, so I wouldn't say _all_ owners do that."

When Rosalie's face suddenly fell angrily, I quickly tried to reconsider my words to figure out what had abruptly changed her mood so drastically.

Then I realized she didn't know my background.

 _Shit_.

"You're the daughter of an owner?" she said through gritted teeth. "Daughter of the monstrous owner who had forced my baby brother to fight in those disgusting tournaments?"

"I hate it just as much as you do," I said defensively. "As soon as I realized what was happening below my home, I set Edward free. We have been on the run together ever since, and now I'm doing everything in my ability to make up for my family's sins by helping to reunite his family."

"What family are you from. I swear to god, you better not say Higginbotham," she warned threateningly.

"I'm a Swan," I admitted reluctantly.

"The Swans are almost as bad as the Higginbotham's!" she screeched.

Her yelling must have grabbed the boys' attention, because Edward came running in, followed closely by the rest of them.

"Rosalie, whatever you're mad at now, you need to control it," Edward warned her. He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him, but it was Emmett who diffused the situation by pulling Rosalie outside. She went with him willingly, and the two of them disappeared out of sight.

"I totally didn't mean to set her off again," I said, feeling guilty.

"Bella, anything could set her off," Edward said, trying to make me feel better. "I shouldn't have left you alone with her."

"Rosalie wouldn't hurt Bella," Eleazar disagreed. "Regardless of how combative she seems, she values human life very much."

"Yeah, but we all knew these vamps could be hostile after being locked up for so long," Jake argued.

"She was hostile _before_ she was locked up," Edward grumbled.

…

Emmett and Rosalie were gone for two days straight, and they chose the most inopportune time to return, but when they did return, there was a definite change in them.

"I'll make you a snack," Edward said after we caught our breaths from a particularly intense and amazing love session. My body felt limp in the incredible aftermath of such a strong climax, but he knew me all too well, I needed to eat.

The moment he opened the door, however, he immediately shut it again.

"What's wrong?" I asked, but then I heard the laughter.

Just when I was about to question who was out there, I heard Emmett say, "Didn't I tell you how good at it he is?"

"Oh stop. That's my baby brother you're talking about," Rosalie's giggling voice answered him.

"I can't help it if it's true," Emmett replied.

Edward banged on the door between him and them, and then yelled at them to "Leave us the hell alone!"

"Sounds like she is in a better mood," I said full of relief as Edward sulked back to bed.

"We're going to have to give them a bit to finally get bored enough to leave before we can go out there for food," he grumbled.

"I'm just glad they're back now. I was starting to get worried about them."

"I figured they'd be back soon. I'm starting to think it was a mistake setting them free. We should have gone after my parents first, and let them deal with them. Or, at least, Rosalie."

The two vampires laughed again from outside the room, so Edward just huffed, and then buried his head under the covers, where he made himself perfectly comfortable lying against my bare abdomen. Just when I thought he had fallen asleep, he began leaving a trail of kisses downward, thus sending me spiraling through another wave of aching arousal.

The feeling of his lips on my skin could never get old, but after another extreme climax, I was worn into exhaustion, and all thoughts of food were completely obliterated.

I must have slept in through half of the following day, because I woke up alone, to the bright sun blinding my eyes through the window. I followed voices to the kitchen, where everyone was in a heavy conversation of some sort.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked Edward as he pulled me into his side affectionately.

"It looks like we're done in Australia," he replied unexpectedly.

"What? Why, what happened?"

"I just got a call from our _friend_ , Lauren."

I rolled my eyes and snarled my lip. Edward smirked at my reaction, before continuing his explanation.

"She wanted us to know that the vampire we were supposed to go up against in this upcoming tournament was recently, _and rather suspiciously,_ sold to someone in Arizona."

"So we came all the way to Australia for nothing," Jacob complained.

"Arizona?" I asked surprised, ignoring the shifter's whining. "That's where the Higginbothams are located," I added slowly.

"Yep. They're the only tournament facility located in that area."

"This sounds like a trap," Eleazar interjected.

"Wait, why would it be a trap?" Rosalie asked confused.

"The Swans and the Higginbothams have a long history with each other," Edward explained. "If someone found out who Bella is, and what we're doing, they could be using my mother to try to lure us there in order to capture her, and well, all of us."

"You said you weren't a Higginbotham," Rosalie fumed.

"I'm not!" I replied quickly. "I mean, I guess I am by blood through my mother, but I never met any of them. I don't even hardly remember my mother, and she cut ties with them long before she had me."

Rosalie stared at me like she was going to explode again, but thankfully, she seemed to get ahold of herself. "Well, we can't choose our parents, can we."

"I'm sorry for not telling you the truth when you asked me if I was a Higginbotham before," I told her sincerely. "I was just worried how you would react.

"Apparently you had a right to worry. I'm the one who should be apologizing to you… _again_. I'm sorry for losing my temper the other day. I had a long talk with Beasty- _I mean, Edward,_ and I can see how much he loves you, and I know you risked your life to save him, so I'm forever indebted to you. I promise to try to control myself better in the future."

"Great, now that we are all chummy, can we please figure out our next move?" Jacob said impatiently. "All of this time, we have yet to come across a single shifter. I need to know where my family is."

"Jacob, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we may be done with all of this," Edward told him. "If they are onto us, and setting a trap, we can't continue."

"I agree with Edward," Eleazar said disheartened. "It's too much of a risk to move forward at this point."

"We can't just give up," I argued. "What if it's all just a coincidence. Or even more likely, what if Lauren is lying, and Esme is still here."

"Why would she lie?" Eleazar asked me.

"I don't know, because she's a bitch. Who knows what her motives could be. All I'm saying is that we knew continuing after our identities were discovered by Rosalie's owner was a risk, and we still came. So why are we giving up now?"

"This is different," Edward disagreed. "Bella, this can't be a mere coincidence. Moretti must have told someone, and now they're playing with us. Even if it has nothing to do with Moretti, and even if it has nothing to do with you, the other owners are afraid of us. They're getting suspicious because we keep winning. It's not common these days to own multiple Class A fighters, especially multiple vampires. They're going to throw everything they have at us to ensure it won't happen again. We have been lucky thus far, but if we keep going, we are certainly going to lose. It's only a matter of time."

"Edward, we can't just leave your parents in there."

"And my imprint!" Jacob added.

"We can try again in a few decades," Eleazar suggested. "When the other owners lose interest in us, and begin to forget, we will return and get them out."

"How? I won't even be human by then."

"We will think of something," he said doubtlessly. "We have plenty of time to consider a better plan."

"Well, I'm not stopping now," Jacob announced. "Bella, we don't need them. If you are still willing to keep going, you can be the owner alone, and I'll be your monster. I'm not afraid like these pansy vamps."

"She is not going anywhere without me," Edward said sternly.

"Oh, so you're her owner now?" Jake challenged.

"She is my mate," Edward retorted.

"And my mate is still imprisoned. You promised to help me get her out."

"Edward, we have to keep going. Now, not fifty years from now," I told him gently but firmly. "Whatever issues come up; we will deal with them like we did with Moretti. We have to save your parents, and we have to help Jacob. If you refuse, I'm going without you – but we both know you won't allow that, so let's stop discussing it, and start planning our trip to Arizona."

"But Arizona isn't even the next tournament host location," Emmett pointed out. "It's just where they sold your mother to. The next location listed after Australia, is China."

"What are the chances The Higginbothams enter her into that tournament?" I questioned.

"We won't know until the lineup is announced," Eleazar figured. "They may want to fight her right away, but they may want to hold on to her for a while."

"There is no point in going to China if my mother isn't going to be entered," Edward grumbled, clearly, and understandably, upset about the turn of events. "And we still have no idea where my father is."

"Then it's settled," Eleazar decided. "We wait until the upcoming tournament lineups are announced, and we don't make another move unless Esme, or Carlisle, or a shifter, is listed."

Edward grudgingly agreed, and once again, I felt like shit for going against him. I knew Edward would follow me anywhere, and because he would follow me, so would the rest, which meant it was ultimately my decision to make, and I hated it. I absolutely hated forcing them into it like that, but I couldn't just move on with my life, and let his parents continue to suffer for another few decades. I still carried such a huge amount of guilt for my family's role in all of it, and I felt compelled to do something about it. Even if it killed me, I was going to make damn sure my friends were reunited with their loved ones…


	28. Shifting Views

**Chapter 28 – Shifting Views**

There was nothing on earth more astonishing, than the glow of twilight, glistening on Edward's perfect face. The colors danced in his eyes like a Picasso painting come to life. Even in the vast desert wilderness of mostly brown and golden hues, the colors that evening were otherworldly breathtaking, and it was all reflected on the most perfect creature to ever exist. I had never been a particularly religious person, but in that moment, I knew heaven was real, and it was right there in the serenity of Edward's beauty.

"I think I could stay here forever," I murmured.

"We could, if you wanted to," he replied without any real hope. We both knew our time in the Australian outback was only temporary. We had been there for a little under six months, and every moment of it had been incredible, but we were still just biding our time until we received notice that Esme would be entered into a tournament.

Originally, we considered going back to Brazil to await that important information, but it was Edward who said our current location was as good as any, and it was pointless to risk travel needlessly. The vampires agreed, however both Jacob and I had our doubts. The outback was hot, and barren compared to the jungle of Brazil. Would there even be enough big game wildlife to sustain the blood diet of three vampires?

Ultimately, we agreed to stay where we were, and I was grateful we did. Those six months had been surprisingly incredible, and easily the best of my life thus far. It was so many long wonderful days and nights of nothing but love and peace. The heat was only a minor inconvenience, and of course the vampires were able to find enough animals to feed on. Rosalie took that time to calm down, and fully accept and give in to her mating bond with Emmett. The two seemed genuinely happy with each other, which was nice to see, especially given everything they had been through. Jacob was antsy the entire time, but he understood why we were waiting, and Eleazar was content to just read and bide his time, knowing eventually we would resume our search for Carlisle.

Edward and I had used those months to somehow grow even closer, as we were able to decompress, and discover a depth to our bond that was greater than we could have ever predicted. Sometimes I would find myself just staring at him, wondering how the hell I was lucky enough to be in that moment. From an average clumsy girl who knew nothing about anything, to an average clumsy girl who had the love and devotion of such an amazing, astounding, incredible being like Edward.

I had spent my childhood being comforted by the mysterious humming in the night, and now I was spending my early adulthood being comforted by that same hum, as I rested in the strong secure arms of my other half. I had always belonged to him, and he had always been mine.

There wasn't a day that went by when I didn't find myself struck by the surrealistic reality of my new existence. This was the way my life was supposed to be, and everything else that was "normal" before, was nothing but a lie. At times I would even manage to forget about the dangers that lied ahead, but all too soon, those dangers were an imminent reality once again.

"Your phone has been buzzing practically nonstop for the past fifteen minutes," Eleazar informed us when we finally made our way back into the cottage.

I took the phone off the counter, and opened the messages. "It's Michael Newton," I announced as I read who the sender was. "They have invited us to their home in Florida for their wedding, and asked that we bring our shifter, as they have a business proposition for us pertaining to him."

I glanced up at Jacob, but then turned to Edward. "What could they want with our shifter?"

"A business proposition could mean anything," Eleazar answered.

"It doesn't sound right," Edward said, understandably leery of the situation.

"The wedding is next week," Rosalie said as she read the message over my shoulder. "That's strange to invite distant acquaintances to a wedding a week away. I mean, maybe things have changed in the decades since I was incarcerated, but it used to be most wedding invites were given out months in advance so people had time to make arrangements."

"Times haven't changed that much," I told her. "My cousin sent out her wedding invitations three months in advance, and that was only two years ago."

"Could be a trap," Emmett said casually.

"Why would Michael and Lauren want to trap us?" I asked baffled.

"It could just be that they only recently came up with some kind of business they wish to share with you, and are using their wedding as an opportunity to do so," Eleazar offered.

"If the wedding is next week, we better hurry to pack and be on our way," Jake said impatiently.

"Hold on, we haven't even decided if we're going," Edward told him.

"Something about this is definitely fishy," Rose interjected. "I say you respond with a big middle finger emoji, and tell them to fuck off."

"And what makes you think you have any say in this?" Jake asked her bitterly.

"Um, why wouldn't I have a say?" she retorted. "Aren't we all in this thing together?"

"They specifically asked for me, so the decision should be mine."

"If it's a trap…" Emmett started, but Jake cut him off.

"If it's a trap, then I'm the one that's fucked, so it should be _my_ decision. I'm tired of just hanging around here in the middle of nowhere, while my imprint, and so many others, continue to suffer. The least we can do is go and see what the hell these people have up their sleeve. Chances are they just want to buy me, or something stupid like that. Edward and Bella can just say no, and then we are all no more worse off than we are now, except maybe a little less bored."

I looked back to Edward. "What do you think?"

He let out a heavy breath, and then shrugged. "We all know I'm going to do whatever you want, so you make the call."

His comment made me feel like shit, but it was still true. I considered it for a moment, and then I re-read Michael's message. "He also wrote that he has the roster for the upcoming tournaments as it stands now. We need those."

"Ask him to email it to you," Rose suggested.

I sighed. "He said in this message that he needs to give it to us in person for various reasons."

"What reasons could those be?" Rose asked sourly.

"Emails and text messages aren't completely secure," Eleazar offered. "I have heard of some business men who refuse to do certain dealings by any means except in person."

"Look, as much as I dislike Lauren and Mike, I never got a sense of dishonesty from them," I said, still lost in consideration. "They seem to genuinely hate the older owners as much as we do, so maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt. Bottom line is we need that roster, and the truth is, no matter what move we make, we could be in danger of a betrayal or falling into a trap. At some point, we need to make a move, and I think this is our next one."

As much as I wanted to stay in that peaceful location with Edward forever, I knew we would never be truly and completely content until we finished our goal of freeing his parents. It was time to move on, and everyone knew it.

Jacob was the only one of us that agreed to go to Florida without any reservations. We were all apprehensive for different reasons, but we all went regardless, and a couple days later, we found ourselves settling in to our newest temporary home on a rural wooded property just outside of Jacksonville.

"I bet there are some fun animals in these woods to wrestle with," Emmett said while admiring our new surroundings.

The trees themselves reminded me of my home in Washington, but the humid stagnant heat was so different. Strangely enough, I missed the calm emptiness of the outback already.

Rosalie suddenly slapped the back of Jacob's neck. "Sorry, you had a mosquito biting you."

"A really big mosquito," Emmett added excitedly. "Look how gooey it is. I wonder if that's human blood oozing out of it."

"Want to taste it to find out?" Rosalie offered playfully.

Jacob wiped his neck. "As long as you lick it off of her hands and keep your mouth away from my neck."

"I wouldn't go near _your_ neck even if you were the last source of blood on earth," Emmett spat. He turned towards Rosalie and smiled seductively. "I wouldn't mind licking your hand though. Just wipe the bug guts off first."

She smiled back at him. "I'll let you lick wherever you want, but first let's run to a store. I want to make sure the babies have some food before we disappear for a while."

"Uh, we're _not_ babies," I told her. "We're more than capable to get our own food. Go ahead and disappear for a while."

She bit her bottom lip as if she was in some huge internal debate. "Oh, I don't want to leave Edward alone in a new place so soon. We haven't even really settled in yet."

Edward grimaced as he joined us on the porch and overheard her last comment. "I don't need babysitting, Rose."

She still looked unsure, but eventually gave in to whatever indulgences the pair needed in the solitude of the forest.

…

We didn't have much time to relax once in Florida. The wedding was only a few days away, so not only did we have to buy groceries for the house, but we needed to purchase new outfits, and acquire some suitable transportation for our "hostile shifter". We needed a car that was stylish enough to fit in with the other rich people that were sure to be at the wedding, but it also had to be fairly big so we could install a good size cage in the back, plus the equipment needed to keep it electrified. We had a few options, but settled on another stretch hummer. Our last one worked well for us, so it made sense to get another one.

The last little chore that needed to be done before the wedding, was my hair.

"I can't believe it's already growing out," Rose said as she began bleaching my hair once again. She had done it a few times since that first time in Australia, but my hair grew fast, and didn't hold the color for long. It felt like the fight to keep my hair blonde was never-ending.

"It will be nice to let your hair go back to brown when this is all over," Edward told me from across the room, where he was playing a game of chess with Eleazar. "The yellow is not complimentary with your complexion," he added indelicately. He had come a long way from the ignorant tactless manner of speaking he used to have, but at times, he could still be unintentionally insulting. Of course, I knew he meant no offense, and I loved him even more for it. Just a simple and subtle reminder of where he came from, and just how much he had learned in a relatively short amount of time.

"I think my hair follicles are eager to go back to their natural color as well," I told Edward.

"Maybe we should try red in your hair next time," Rose suggested. "We could change it to match the seasons. Dark in the winter, red in the spring and fall, and blonde for summer."

"Uh, that would be interesting, but I think it would be best to stick with the blonde for now, since that's the color these owners are used to seeing me with, and it's the most opposite of my natural."

"Oh right, well maybe after all of this is over then," she suggested.

"Actually, I really think I'll just go back to brown by then," I told her. "Plus, when this is all over, I'll be becoming a vampire, and you mentioned before that dye doesn't work on vampire hair, right?"

Rose grimaced. "That's too bad. I'd really like to see you as a redhead."

"Too bad for you that she never will be," Edward responded to her.

"Oh, you hush now!" Rose scolded him. "You worship the ground she walks on, you don't give two flying fucks what color her hair is."

Edward scrunched his brows. "Flying fucks? I don't understand what that means."

I giggled. "I think it's really cute that you're talking more and more like Emmett," I told Rosalie.

"I am not!" she snapped, but quickly softened. "Am I really? Ugh, I'm sorry. He's taking over my entire existence."

"And you're loving every minute of it," Em said as he breezed into the room and kissed the back of her shoulder.

"I also love beheading you," she retorted. "It's been a while since I did that last, maybe it's about time to do it again."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" he challenged her playfully.

"Maybe we should go outside to find out."

"Enough, you two," Eleazar told them sternly. "Tomorrow is the wedding; we don't need to be focused on this nonsense right now."

…

I truly didn't feel like it was a trap, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous as Eleazar drove us to the wedding location. Jacob stayed at the house with Emmett and Rosalie, where he would stay, unless Michael gave us a real reason to want to bring him to them, and that was doubtful.

When we arrived, I was both nervous, as well as relieved, to see that there was, in fact, an actual wedding happening, and not some elaborate scheme to get us to travel all the way there. The venue was Michael's family home, which was a mansion on a sprawling estate that made Swan Manor look like a humble cottage. The decorations were beautiful, in an overly done uber- fancy way, and the guests were dressed just as extravagantly. Edward and I had grown accustomed to dressing up due to how many various tournaments and events we had been attending, but as we stepped out of the hummer, I was glad we decided on the most expensive and fashionable garments yet. We certainly wouldn't have fit in with the other haughty guests had we worn anything less.

In the sea of overly debonair men and obnoxiously haute couture women, Edward and I did our best to blend in, however it wasn't long until we were recognized.

"Mr. and Mrs. Masen, what a pleasant surprise," Mr. Geddy, one of the bigwig owners greeted us. "You two have been MIA in the recent tournaments, so I wasn't expecting the pleasure of your presence here today."

"We just needed to take a little break from it all," Edward told him. "We have been enjoying our time vacationing."

"Ah, which explains why you both look so tan. A second honeymoon, I assume?"

Edward hesitated ignorantly at the word _honeymoon_ , so I swiftly jumped in. "Well, we didn't exactly have the funds we do now the first time we honeymooned," I said with a faux innocent giggle.

"Yes, yes, of course," Mr. Geddy replied with a big smile. "Good for you. Having money is so different than trying to do it on a fixed budget."

"It is, indeed," I agreed.

The wedding went off without a hitch, and Edward and I even got to do a little dancing during the reception. I'd almost say it was a pleasant evening, if it wasn't for the company of the other despicable owners and the two jackasses we were there to celebrate. Then again, Edward and I didn't get many "normal" human experiences together, so I did my best to forget the rest, and attempted to just enjoy our time.

It was a nice event, however we hardly even saw the bride and groom, and for the brief few moments we did get a chance to speak to them, so many other people were around so we couldn't talk freely. They basically extended their gratitude for us coming all that way to celebrate with them, and then asked if we could meet them back there the following morning. I'd say attending the wedding was a waste of our time, but with all the owners in attendance, it was probably good for us to make that appearance after missing a couple tournaments.

The following morning, we anxiously returned to the estate to meet with the new Mr. and Mrs. Newton.

"Congratulations," I told Lauren as we embraced. Edward and Mike shook hands, and then we switched. I loathed faking pleasantries, but I supposed there was no way getting around it. When Lauren seemed to hang on to Edward a little too long, Mike actually physically pulled her off of him, which only made her giggle like a moron.

"You just smell so good," she mumbled to Edward.

Edward grimaced at her, but otherwise let it go.

The Newton's then proceeded to give us a personal tour of their mansion, as well as the arena and monster cells below ground. As much as I disliked them personally, I was glad to be able to see, without a doubt, that they did not own any of Edward's family. When the tour was complete, we went out to the garden to have brunch, where the forced pleasantries and casual conversation continued.

We somehow survived chatting about nothing for three whole hours before I finally just couldn't take anymore nonsense.

"I'm sorry, this has all been lovely," I said with overly fake friendliness. "But you mentioned in your message to us before about some kind of business proposition?"

Michael glanced at his new wife, to which she responded with a slight smile and a subtle head nod. Then he turned back to us. "I'm sorry, I'm sure all of this may seem rather odd?"

"No, of course not," I lied. "We're just curious and eager to hear about whatever business ventures you may have for us. We have been racking our brains as to what it could possibly be."

"To be honest, it is a little bit of a sensitive subject, so we have been trying to get a feel from you if this is something you would even possibly be open to."

"Whatever it is, I assure you, you would have our utmost confidentiality," Edward assured them.

They both smiled. "We were hoping you'd say that. Please, forgive our trepidation in all this. Like I said, it's a sensitive subject, and it's hard to know who to trust in this industry."

"Of course, it's perfectly understandable," Edward told them.

"What we have to propose to you is better shown in person, if you don't mind a little car trip."

"Not at all," Edward told them. Through our joined hands, we shared our concerns about getting into their car, not knowing where we were going, but we had come too far to turn back at that point.

When their so-called car was brought around the front by their driver, we were even more apprehensive when we noticed that it was a reinforced Range Rover, with a similar faint buzzing noise that our hummer had.

"Is this vehicle electrified?" Edward questioned suspiciously.

"It's necessary for where we are going. Please, trust us. There is no reason to be concerned," Lauren tried assuring us.

Before we could protest, or ask anymore questions, the vehicle accelerated and away we went.

Mike and Lauren continued to speak casually about _who knows what_ , and Edward did a good job of pretending to pay attention, but my focus never left the changing terrain outside the car window. _Where the hell were they taking us?_

When the foliage became swampier, and the man-made structures were few and far between, I lost my patience.

"I'm sorry," I interrupted whatever the hell Lauren was blathering about. "Where exactly are we going?"

"We're almost there," Mike said apologetically. "Listen, we really appreciate your guys' trust and willingness to come along with us without prior explanation. It's just hard to properly understand what we are trying to do here without seeing it firsthand. A simple explanation simply couldn't do it justice."

Just then, the car stopped in front of a gate guarded by four armed men, which was surrounded by what I could only describe as a wall of vines on both sides. My view was partially obstructed by the car window from my position in the middle seat, but as Edward leaned his head out the window to get a better look himself, I could see through our touch that the vine wall stretched as high as the trees.

"We're going to need to roll up the windows now," Mike told Edward.

The windows were rolled up from the front seat by the driver, and then the faint buzzing noise increased into a full zinging hiss. I wanted to question it, but the car moved forward through the gates before I had the chance. The moment the gate was closed behind us, a peculiar feeling overcame me. It wasn't exactly fear or concern, but something else, something I didn't know how to properly describe. It was almost the same sense of unease I had when I walked through the cells below my home for the first time.

And then I saw movement in the trees.

"What was that?" I asked slowly.

"So, I'm sure you're a little confused," Mike started as the car continued to drive forward. "My new bride here, has a soft spot for all creatures."

"Well, not _all_ creatures," Lauren corrected him. "Just the cute ones," she added with a wink to me.

"Right, the cute ones," Mike agreed with a slight chuckle. "Anyway, the first time I showed her the cells below my home, she fell in love with one creature in particular."

"It was a jaguar…or so I thought," she said enthusiastically.

"It was our shape-shifter. He had been in our family for a couple generations," Mike explained.

"I became totally obsessed," Lauren added.

"So, since my father died and I took over the family business, I have been spending an obscene amount of money finding, and buying, all the shifters we can find. I bought two hundred and forty acres in this swamp, and constructed this massive structure to contain them. We are up to forty five creatures now."

"And we want your shifter to be forty six!" Lauren blurted out excitedly.

"Um, what now?" I asked in shock.

"You want to buy our shifter?" Edward asked to clarify.

"Many of these shifters were either traded for, or donated," Mike replied quickly. "That's not to say we won't pay you for your shifter, if that's the only way you'll part with it. Most of these shifters aren't great fighters, so their previous owners were just happy to get rid of them, but your shifter is very skilled in the arena, so we know you may be a little less willing to give him up. That's why we want to propose a business arrangement, so to speak."

"Basically, we take over the cost of feeding it by keeping it here, and you can have access to it whenever you want to fight it, as well as any of the other shifters we have in here," Lauren finished.

"So…you do this just because you have a fascination with the species?" I asked, trying to understand their motives.

"Beautiful creatures like these should not be kept in cages," Lauren said with a surprising amount of conviction.

I looked out the window and saw a large silver back gorilla staring back at us with the most hateful expression. He may have even barred his fangs.

As I continued looking around, I saw several different animals, all of which seemed much more aware and cognitive than an average animal would be.

"All of these animals are shifters?" I asked, trying to decipher my own feelings about the situation. On one hand, it was certainly better than the cold musty cells most supernatural creatures were accommodated, however it was just another form of cage. I then suddenly realized the electrified fence that surrounded us stretched up over the trees to form one huge dome.

"Yes, they're all shifters. We considered adding regular animals that they could feed on, but we figured it would be too hard to tell them apart. Now we only feed them butchered meat and produce, which they get twice a day," Mike said pompously.

"There are no houses or anything," I noticed.

"Of course not," Lauren said with a laugh. "They're animals, not people."

"They're people who can turn into animals," I corrected her. "Why are none of them in their human forms?"

"I think you have a false understanding of what shifters are," Mike told me. "They are not human, and if they do take a human form, it's just that, a form."

I wanted to argue with him, but that was when I noticed a dragon flying by. Like, a real dragon, the kind that breathed fire and terrorized knights in ancient folklore.

"Wow," I said, despite myself.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Lauren agreed with my reaction. "Not all the shifters are animals. Some change into demons, fairies, and all sorts of variations. It's incredible."

"They don't attack each other?" Edward asked.

"Sometimes they do, but we keep them well fed, so it only happens when there is a quarrel of some sort," Mike explained.

"What do you do then?" I asked concerned.

"Nothing. They're animals. We let nature take its course as it would in the wild. We like to think of this place as a wildlife refuge. We come to visit and marvel in their beauty, but we mostly leave them alone except for feeding time."

"You have wolves too," Edward noticed as we saw a pack of giant canines running past us.

"Yes," Mike said proudly. "They're fascinating creatures. None of the others stay together the way the wolves do. It's my understanding that your shifter was originally a wolf, right?"

I swallowed roughly. "He can shift into just about anything," I said, unsure if I should admit that fact or not.

"Are there females amongst the pack?" Edward questioned.

"Yes, three of them, I believe. We have even had a couple pups born in here."

Edward and I exchanged heavy looks.

Mike and Lauren continued to talk up their enclosure, but there was really nothing left for them to say that would sway us one way or the other. The place was heavily guarded, and it didn't look like there was a way to break any of them out. Chances were Jacob's family and imprint were in there, so really, whatever decision we made moving forward, was up to him.

"Well, this is quite a place," Edward told them when our tour was over. "It's definitely an intriguing proposition you're offering us, but we will need to discuss it privately and get back to you with our answer."

"That's perfectly understandable," Michael said graciously. "Oh, by the way, here is a printout of the upcoming tournament rosters."

Edward and I glanced at it, and we were discouraged to see Esme was still not listed anywhere.

"Thank you," I said, trying to keep my voice sounding positive.

So we headed back to our new temporary home, and told everyone exactly what we saw, as well as the offer that was made to us.

Jacob was shocked, at first, but his shock quickly morphed into determination. "I want you to take the offer. My place is with my family, even if that means being imprisoned for the rest of my life."

"But there is no guarantee your family is even in there," Eleazar said gently.

"Edward showed me his vision of them. I didn't see Leah, but I definitely recognized some of the other wolves. I know this sounds crazy, but even without seeing her, I know she's there. I have to go. Besides, they said you guys can take me out whenever you want to fight me, right?"

"We have no way of knowing if they will honor that deal once you're inside," Edward told him. "Even if we drew up a contract, there is no legal system when it comes to inhuman creatures. Their men could ensure we never get to you again."

"I'd rather be locked up with Leah forever than to be free without her," Jacob said with the utmost sincerity.

Edward nodded, and against our better judgement, we sent the Newton's a message saying we agreed to their terms.

It was actually painful to hug Jacob for what could be the last time. We had a rough start, and it took a while for me to fully trust him, but he had become a true friend, and it felt like we were losing a member of our family. But we had to let him go, and there was nothing left to do but hope we found a way to rescue all of the shifters someday.

We all took turns saying goodbye, and even Rosalie seemed a bit emotional. Jake got into the back of our hummer, and we drove him to the swamp property, and my heart sped as the guards came with their weapons to escort him into the dome. Lauren and Mike were there to see it as well, and Lauren could hardly contain her excitement. She reminded me of Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka, wanting that damn golden egg laying goose. She was just a spoiled rich girl that didn't appreciate what she had; she only wanted shifters because she could. If Jacob wasn't so eager to reunite with his family, it sure would have been nice to be able to say no to her, since I doubted she was ever told no about anything from anyone.

"So, he seems to like it here so far," Edward said to the Newtons as we watched Jacob wolf run off into the enclosure.

"You have no idea what this means to us," Mike told him as he shook Edward's hand. "Seeing creatures in their natural habitat like this sure makes Lauren happy."

"It really does," Lauren agreed. "And you know what they say - _happy wife, happy life._ "

"Can't argue with that," Edward said with a forced smile. "So, we will be in contact with you if we ever need to take our shifter back for any reason."

"Yes, of course," Mike agreed.

"But he will be happy here," Lauren tried assuring us. "This place is so much better than that disgusting excuse for a sanctuary they have for vampires up in Alaska."

"What now?" I asked, stunned from her words and not sure I heard her right. I glanced up at Edward and his face mirrored my befuddlement.

"Honey, that's not something we are supposed to be discussing," Mike scolded her.

I ignored him. "Is there a place like this for vampires?" I pressed.

"Oh, we can trust them, they're our friends," Lauren said with a playful slap to her husband's chest. "It's supposed to be some big secret because the other owners would be pissed about it since they think vampires are close to extinction, and I guess they still are. Mr. Arostali has some weird fascination with vampires, so when their numbers began dwindling, he decided to start collecting them. He keeps them at his property in Alaska, but it's nowhere close to as nice as this place. It's basically just a huge electrified cave system through the mountains out there."

"If it's such a secret, how did you find out?" I asked them.

"He approached us similarly to the way we approached you guys," Mike told us. "We had a vampire, and he had a shifter, so we traded."

"What vampire did you have?" Edward asked, failing, just slightly, to keep his tone sounding indifferent.

"We owned _The Highlander_. My parents bought it from Scotland a couple decades before I took over… _Or was it Ireland?_ Oh, I don't remember; doesn't really matter anyway. We only saw Mr. Arostali's property once, but even back then he had quite the collection of vampires. If there are only fifty vampires left in the world, he must have thirty of them. I wouldn't be surprised if he contacts you about your vampires pretty soon. Last I heard he bought _The Yankee_ a few months ago, right before it was due to fight in the ring."

"Well, if you happen to speak to Mr. Arostali, please let him know we would be willing to discuss selling our vampires to him," Edward told them.

"Okay, sure," Mike agreed. "I have no idea when we will talk to him again, if ever, but if we do we will certainly let him know. But I have a feeling he will contact you without our involvement. The entire Creature Fighting society is buzzing about your winning streak. I'm sure he has to be aware of your vampires by now, and if he is aware, he's going to want them."

We all shook hands, and then Edward and I were thankfully on our way. It was difficult having to leave Jacob there like that, but the deal did allow us to gain insight into a possible new direction for us to look for Edward's family. We still weren't sure if _The Yankee_ was even Carlisle or not, but now that we knew its general location, we were going to damn well find out…


	29. Friends in High Places

**Chapter 29 – Friends in High Places**

We all wanted to go to Alaska right away. Emmett didn't even think we needed a plan in place first. "We should just go there and fight our way in," he said after we told all of them what we learned from the Newton's.

"They're sure to have it heavily guarded," Edward told him. "We need a solid plan."

"Maybe we should do as you said Mr. Newton suggested," Eleazar offered. "Wait for Mr. Arostali to come to us. That will ensure the least amount of suspicion from him and his people."

"But who knows when, _or if_ , this guy will ever make contact," Rose argued.

"We are the owners of two champion vampires," Edward disagreed. "If this guy really collects vampires, I can't imagine him not contacting us. It's only a matter of time."

"And that time will probably be shorter if you wave those vampires in his face a bit more," Emmett suggested.

"What do you mean?" I asked, unsure.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rose asked, agreeing with Emmett. "Put us back in the ring. Let us kick some ass, and make sure our appeal is too good to ignore."

"Let me rephrase what I was actually trying to say," Emmett jumped back in. "You should put _me_ back in the ring to get this guy's attention."

Rose glared at her mate. "Let's not forget who beheaded who here. I kicked your ass, and I sure as hell don't mind doing it again."

"Just to clarify," Emmett started again. "I think you should put _Rosalie_ back in the ring to get this guy's attention."

"I'd sure as hell get his attention more than you would," she grumbled.

"There are no other vampires listed on the roster of upcoming tournaments, so if we enter you, you'd possibly be facing unknown opponent species," Edward warned her.

"Yeah, and without your previous owner's mind control serum stuff, you won't have that advantage anymore," I added, but then I felt like shoving my foot in my own mouth, as I noticed the expressions on the vampire couple's faces each morph slowly. Rose became angrily irritated, but Emmett's lips spread into a wide shocked grin.

I quickly realized my mistake. She must not have told Em the truth about their match, so I mouthed _'sorry'_ , but the damage was done.

"I _knew_ you cheated when you beat me!" Emmett shouted.

Rose rolled her eyes. "The serum was well worn off before I decapitated you the second time, so what's your excuse for that one? If you want a rematch, right here and now, I'll happily oblige."

"Babe, you're the last person on earth I'd want to fight again. You are utterly terrifying and ruthless," Emmett replied sweetly.

She smirked, and then turned to Edward to get back on topic. "Put me in the ring. I'll kill whatever creature I'm up against, even without that serum, and I'll do it in a way that would be impossible for this Mr. Arostali to ignore."

"It's too big of a risk," Edward said, but she put up her finger to stop him.

"You are _my_ baby brother, it's my job to look after you, not the other way around. I've got this."

"But…"

"Edward, the last thing I want to do is step on your toes with this little gang you've got going on here. I know you brought us all together, but this is my family too. I love you, but if you refuse to allow me to do this, then I'm going to leave, and try to figure out a way to free Esme and our dad on my own. But trust me, we have a far better chance at reuniting our family if we do it together."

"Do it together _your_ way?" Edward challenged her.

"If you have a better idea, we're all listening," she challenged him back.

Edward locked his jaw bitterly.

"It's settled then," she said, slightly apologetic to her brother, but mostly just confidently determined.

…

The first time we entered Rosalie in a tournament, we were all nervous – all of us, that is, except Rosalie. She had decided on her costume, which she was overly excited about, and said it made her feel powerful. Gone was her perfectly curled hair, red lingerie, and mile high heels that she was forced to fight in before. Instead, she wore her hair in a long braid, and picked a crop top with ass hugging short-shorts and combat boots. Em didn't approve initially, but Rose said something about idolizing Lara Croft, _whoever that was_ , so he let it go.

Edward and I watched her first match with bated breath, and I couldn't help but take notice of the odd fluttering of my irregular heartbeat. It wasn't a new feeling, but it was one of the first times I truly focused on it. It forced me to take several deep dizzying breaths, but as worried as it made me, I refused to voice my concern due to the intense way Edward was watching the match. His sister's life was at stake, and I refused to distract him, even with my heart issues.

Thankfully, our fears for Rosalie were unfounded, and she easily took down her opponent. She had been up against a snot nosed ogre, and decapitated it quickly. Unfortunately for the ogre, only vampires had the luxury of being put back together once dismembered.

It was one win down, and who knew how many more to go until Mr. Arostali made contact. We didn't just stick to the main tournament events either; our next match was a much smaller venue, but we figured they were all connected, so it didn't really matter.

Emmett wanted to fight as well, so we would alternate between the two, figuring that would give us the most amount of attention.

My heart palpitations kept happening, and the more I paid attention to it, the more nervous it made me.

"Edward, what if… what if I'm running out of time?" I asked him carefully one night. We had just returned from a particularly intense match, which had Emmett narrowly missing the jaws of a large nasty werewolf. Werewolf saliva was poisonous to vampires, but he had been up against much more dangerous opponents prior to that, so I wasn't sure why it had affected me so strongly. My chest actually ached afterwards, and I felt faint from all that tension. It honestly scared me. I didn't want to concern Edward since he was under enough stress, but it had become too strong to ignore any longer.

"What are you talking about?" Edward asked me worriedly.

So, rather than trying to explain to him what I had been experiencing, I grabbed his hand so he could see it, and _feel_ it, for himself.

Edward watched my vision intensely, and when it was over, he looked at me with the utmost of seriousness.

"Bella," he said gently but sternly. "Do you not believe me when I tell you that I can hear your heartbeat from the opposite side of a crowded room? Even now, in this pathetic weakened human state I'm currently in, I can hear it. It's the most profound sound in my universe. I'm constantly tuned in, and I promise you, it isn't any different now than how it's always been. You were nervous for the fight, and simply noticing it more. Your heart isn't giving up on you, at least not yet. We have time… But if you're really concerned, we can put all this stuff on hold, and take some time to change you. I don't want you living in a constant state of fear."

I sighed. "I'm not living in fear, or at least, I won't be anymore. I _do_ trust you, more than I have ever trusted anyone in my life, so if you tell me I'm fine, then I believe you."

"I'm not going to allow your heart to stop, _until_ you're ready for it to stop," he assured me. I nodded, so he pulled me in to kiss my temple tenderly. "Bella, the more human I become, the more I understand certain emotions," he added slowly. "I just want you to know, that despite my feelings for you being stronger than words can ever express, I've realized that the part of me that's become human, is capable of the simplistic purity of _love_."

I raised my brows in shock. "You love me?" Even though he had explained that his emotions as my mate far surpassed love, it was still nice to hear that he felt the human version of love as well.

"Now, my vampire parts still don't love you," he added, slightly playful. "But every human cell in my body lives for you, and loves you just as much."

I thought I was happy and content with our previous declarations of "not love", but hearing his normal human love for me fulfilled all the romantic fantasies I had from my youth. It was a conversation I didn't even know I needed until we were having it, and I found myself impossibly falling even more in love with him.

We had another incredible, love filled night, but the following morning we would be back on the road, and heading to our next destination.

…

Three more fighting events passed with still no sign of Mr. Arostali, so when we entered Rosalie in the next major tournament, we didn't have much hope. However, as we sat through the first fight of the series, we were left momentarily speechless when a certain stranger finally approached us.

"You must be the Masen's that I have been hearing so much about," the man said to us, before offering his hand towards Edward. "My name is Marcus Arostali."

Edward stood to greet him. "Ah, Mr. Arostali, we're honored to make your acquaintance at last. I'm Edward Masen. I believe we have mutual friends in the Newton's. It's a shame you couldn't make their wedding."

"Yes, it was a shame. I heard it was a beautiful event, but sadly, business wouldn't allow me to leave Alaska at the time. I wasn't even sure I would make this event until a few days ago, which is why I'm not listed on the roster. Lucky for me, I'm quite close to some of the tournament committee heads, and they always allow my last-minute entries."

"I suppose it pays to have friends in high places," Edward told him, before gesturing to me. "May I introduce my wife, Arabella."

"It's a pleasure," I said while holding my hand out to him.

He surprised me by taking my hand gently and kissing my knuckles, as opposed to shaking it as I expected.

"The pleasure, is all mine," he replied with a slithery tone that made me more uncomfortable than I had been in a really long time. His dark brown eyes felt like they were penetrating into mine, which left me feeling strangely exposed, but I didn't understand why. His long, straight, jet black hair, fell around his face and framed it in a way that somehow made it even harder to look away. The contrast between his sharp features, and the softness of his beige designer suit, was almost disorienting. There was something profoundly off about him that went deeper than his odd exterior, and a chill ran up my spine as a result.

Unfortunately, he noticed my mild tremble. "Is there something wrong, my dear?"

I took a deep breath to try to stabilize myself. "No, I apologize, I think I was just hit by a draft, or perhaps the air conditioning."

"My sweet wife is always cold," Edward covered for me, and to emphasize his comment, he took off his suit coat and draped it over my shoulders.

"Thank you, my love," I told him with a smile, and then puckered my lips so he would grace me with a sweet but quick kiss.

Edward and Mr. Arostali soon began casually conversing, so when the preliminary fight began, he took the open seat next to me, and spent the rest of that night's matches talking over me to Edward. During all that time, Arostali almost pretended like I didn't exist, except for the couple times he'd glance at me with a sleazy expression that made me want to vomit.

As much as I would have preferred never seeing that suspiciously peculiar man ever again, we tentatively made plans to meet him the following morning for brunch. I didn't want to do it, but pretending to befriend the man was exactly what we were trying to accomplish, so I'd need to just grit my teeth and bare it.

"May I introduce my lovely wife Caiussa," Arostali said when he met us at the restaurant.

Edward and I stood to greet her.

"I'm sorry I missed meeting you both last night," she said while shaking our hands. "All of these creatures we have are fascinating to me, but I don't care much for the fights."

"It took me a while to warm up to them as well," I told her honestly. As dark and cold Arostali seemed to be, his wife was the exact opposite. She was young, and had a sweet disposition that definitely put me at a little more ease. Her hair was a very pale blonde, and it was pinned up in a sophisticated but casual up-do. And her eyes were a brilliant shade of blue, that almost looked lavender in certain lights. She was definitely beautiful, but even more than that, she was interesting looking, which made me stare at her a little longer than I probably should have. When she noticed my gawking, she smiled awkwardly, which I returned, and then we both diverted our attention.

The men began chatting about the tournament, but Caiussa was clearly uncomfortable with the topic, so I decided to try to find something else to talk about.

"So, _Caiussa_ , that is such a unique and pretty name, does it have a special meaning?" I asked her.

"No," she said with a courteous smile, but didn't engage any further.

"Is it a family name?" I pressed.

"No," she said again.

"O-kay," I said, not knowing what else to say. She clearly wasn't trying to be rude, but she definitely seemed a bit socially awkward, and not exactly one the smartest of individuals.

Caiussa and I spent the rest of the meal quietly listening to the men speak, and I began to get the feeling that was what Arostali expected from us little women folk.

…

During that evening's tournament event, we got to see Arostali's Class A entry, which appeared to be a werewolf type of monster that looked more lion than wolf. It was a creepy creature, but nothing Rosalie couldn't handle. However, when the main event happened the following night, Arostali proved just how much pull he had in the tournament circuit, by bending the rules to allow him to enter an entirely different Class A fighter.

My eyes immediately grew wide the moment Rosalie's opponent entered the ring, and I knew Edward had to have been five times as shocked. I turned to look at him, but somehow, he kept his composure, despite seeing his mother down in the cage before him.

"I apologize for my last minute change in entry," Arostali said casually as we watched Esme hiss and run around the arena, just as wildly as the first time I had seen her. "I always planned on entering this vampire, but there was an issue in its transfer here. Luckily, she finally arrived this morning."

Edward steeled his features. "It's against the rules to change an entry half way through the tournament," he said evenly.

"Yes, but this is a special circumstance," Arostali replied carelessly. "As you said, it pays to have friends in high places, eh."

We watched intently as Rosalie was brought into the ring, and clearly she was just as shocked as we were. She almost appeared to try to embrace her coven member, but Esme only hissed louder at her, and darted to the opposite side of the caged arena.

I grabbed Edward's hand to silently communicate. _'You may need to go closer to the cage so she can see you, the way you did the first time we found Rose,'_ I told him. _'If Rose wins, we will finally be able to buy your mother.'_

Edward nodded in agreement, but when he tried to excuse himself from his seat, Arostali refused to allow it.

"Nonsense!" he told him. "If you leave now, you'll miss it. Vampire matches never last long, and they're so rare, you must stay and watch."

Edward wanted to argue, but with his concerned focus being on his sister fighting his mother, it was nearly impossible for him to think of a good enough argument that would allow him to leave.

' _She will lose,'_ Edward told me telepathically. _'There is no way she would actually hurt Rosalie.'_

' _Especially with Rose trying to explain it all to her,'_ I agreed.

' _But she's not listening to her,'_ Edward thought, getting increasingly concerned. His mind was fearful, but looking at his face you would have never known it. His features stayed utterly calm and collected, even his breathing remained steady.

Since Esme was clearly not responding to Rose's subtle attempts to convince her to forfeit the match, Rose must have decided she just needed to win fairly. The two female vampires attacked each other as if their lives depended on it, and in a way, I guess they did.

Esme fought like a wild animal. There seemed to be no strategy or self-control in her actions. She appeared to be going off of pure, feral, vampiric instinct, and she looked frighteningly lethal.

' _Edward!'_ I nearly screamed internally as she got her arms around Rosalie's neck.

Edward's stoic façade broke, as he stood from his seat. I knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to shout at his mother to stop. He wanted to draw his own blood so she would smell it, and freeze just enough to give Rose the advantage, but with Arostali in the way, Edward remained frozen, right where he stood. Edward could do nothing but watch helplessly, as his mother mercilessly beheaded his sister, thus winning the match.

I gasped from the sight, which made Arostali laugh and clap his hands victoriously. "That, right there, is why I leave my wife at home for these matches. Women are so fainthearted." He turned to the extremely shocked Edward, still standing in front of his seat beside him. "No hard feelings, right Masen? It was a good, entertaining, fight. I look forward to adding your vampire to my collection."

He held out his hand towards Edward's to shake, but Edward didn't move. He just kept staring in complete dumbfounded befuddlement, at his sister's motionless decapitated body in the arena. We watched the guards escort his mother away, and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it.

We lost, and we lost badly. It was a blow I wasn't sure we would recover from, but suddenly, and just as shockingly, Edward reanimated, and was in immediate and determined motion.

"Where are you going?" I asked Edward the moment we were out of Arostali's hearing range. I had to practically run to keep up with his fast pace, but he didn't even slow to speak.

"I need to talk to the tournament committee to convince them to not force us to sell Rose," he replied emotionlessly.

"Edward, you know they aren't going to do that. They wouldn't even do that for one of the older top owners when he asked the same thing."

"Well, we have to do something. I can't just let them take Rosalie away."

"Edward, just stop a minute," I insisted, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a halt. "Let's just think about this. We lost Rose," I said as calmly as possible, but my voice vibrated with emotions despite myself. "But it's not permanent. She's not dead. We can win her back, we just need them to put her up against Emmett."

"How will we convince Arostali of that?" Edward asked, relaxing just fractionally.

"I don't know, but he seems to like you. Let's just keep trying to get close to him, and maybe we can even convince him to let us see his facility in Alaska. But we can't let on how upset we are, or he's going to get suspicious. We need to remind him that we still have one more vampire, and we know he is going to want him. It's going to be okay; it has to be," I said, trying to convince myself just as much as him.

It was definitely a blow of the worst kind, and returning to our family without Rosalie, was torturing. The only thing worse than Edward's heartbreak over his sister's loss at his mother's hand, was Emmett's devastation. He was being forcefully separated from his mate, and I couldn't imagine a more excruciating feeling than that.

But Emmett was also undeterred.

"We'll get her back," Em said confidently. "And then I'm going to kill every fucking owner that ever imprisoned her."

I sighed. "Well, at least she is going to a vampire sanctuary of sorts, right?" I said to Edward, hoping to shed a tiny glimmer of light on the situation. "If Mike was right, and it's anywhere close to being what their shifter sanctuary is, at least Rose won't be heading to Alaska just to be put in a small cage like she was in before."

"It'll still be a cage," Edward replied bitterly. "Any way you look at it, she just lost her freedom again. I can't believe I let this happen."

"Don't give yourself that much credit. She chose it," Emmett told him strongly. "Nobody is responsible for this except for those jackass tournament organizers, so stop wasting time with self-blame and regret. We just need to get her back, and if you have to kiss this guy's ass to do so, then so be it. Pucker up and get us to Alaska."

Edward huffed, but otherwise agreed, before grudgingly sending out a congratulatory message to Arostali's cellphone. We couldn't appear desperate, so we had to try to relax, and figure out a way to manipulate our new friend into a sense of comfort and trust with us. It was our only hope of ever getting close enough to win Rose back, and hopefully, eventually, Esme as well.

Our family was shaken and broken, but we would not shatter. Even with that traumatic setback, we would not give up until we were finally fully complete…


	30. Choking

**Chapter 30 – Choking**

After a few text exchanges between Edward and Marcus, we were all set up to visit his facility in Alaska. Edward had explained to him how difficult it was for us to own a vampire, and managed to convince him we were looking to trade The Terminator for a werewolf. _Surprise, surprise_ , Arostali just happened to have the perfect werewolf for us, and was more than happy to trade.

It was too easy. I knew the real challenge would be figuring a way to get out of Alaska with Rose, and hopefully Esme, but getting the invite to the facility seemed far too simple, and I couldn't help but be worried there was more to it. It truly felt like a trap, and as we were packing up our latest temporary abode, I couldn't help but voice my reservations.

"What if this isn't a good idea?" I asked as I zipped up my suitcase. "We shouldn't go there until we have a better idea of how we're going to get them out. Arostali just thinks we are trading monsters, so how do we get from that, to keeping Emmett, plus leaving with two more vampires? And even more importantly, what if the entire thing is some kind of trap? Once we're in his facility, we are basically at his mercy."

Edward sighed, and then grabbed the suitcase off the bed, and spoke as we walked into the main living space where our two remaining vampires were in their own planning discussion.

"We have to assume everything is a trap," Edward told me, which grabbed the attention of Em and Eleazar. "But pre-planning hasn't seemed to help us thus far. We can't predict what we don't know, and we have no idea what kind of facility all the vampires are being kept in."

"You're planning to just kill Arostali, aren't you?" Emmett asked with a proud grin.

"Pretty much," Edward admitted.

"That's my boy! I knew I raised you right," Emmett gloated.

"Edward, you can't just go in there and kill him, and then think his people aren't going to retaliate," I said with concern.

"It worked with Moretti," Edward argued.

"We got lucky with Mr. Moretti," I disagreed. "And we didn't have to break anyone out afterwards."

Edward sighed. "I understand what you're saying; going in there without having a plan is stupid, but we have to be stupid to even go there at all. If we were smart, we would just cut our losses and go hide somewhere."

"We can't do that," I said quietly. "But I also can't shake the feeling that something horrible is going to happen."

Just then, as if by coincidence, or perhaps some horrific twist of fate, the two vampires suddenly shot their attention to the door simultaneously.

"What is it?" Edward asked concerned.

"Someone is approaching," Eleazar said slowly.

"I know that scent," Emmett added; his mood abruptly darkened.

Edward's weakened senses must have finally caught onto it too, because he looked at me with a moment of sheer panic, but it quickly morphed into forbidding determination.

"Let's move!" he insisted. He dropped the suitcase, reached for my hand, and immediately pulled me towards the back window, but Emmett stopped him.

"He didn't come alone. I can hear men back there waiting to ambush us."

"What's going on?" I asked in a panic. "Who's here?"

I could see the fear in Edward's eyes, but he buried it deep, and I knew he was trying to come up with some kind of plan. "The side?"

"People are out there too," Eleazar informed him. "We're surrounded."

"The creature hunters?" I assumed, terrified and shaking with fear. Whatever trouble I thought we were going to run into in Alaska, seemed to find us right then and there. But as scared as I was, I refused to believe we couldn't find our way out of it. There had to be a way, except….

"Bella," a familiar voice said from behind me.

I turned around, and gasped. "Dad!"

Charlie had shockingly walked right into our cottage, but he made a critical mistake.

"Why, Mr. Swan, long time no see," Emmett said with a sinister tone. "It wasn't very bright of you to come in here alone, now was it?"

"How did you find me?" I asked, trying to temporarily block out the very lethal vampire that had his hostile sight set on my father.

"A friend of mine tipped me off," Charlie explained in steady rush. He had to have known the danger he was in. Even with whoever came with him waiting outside, Emmett could easily kill him before they had a chance to storm in to defend him. "He said he thought he saw you in London at the tournament there. He said you were posing as a monster owner, and actually had entries. I didn't believe it, so I went to Australia to hopefully see you for myself, but you weren't there."

"We pulled our entry last minute, but we were still there," I admitted quietly, not that it mattered at that point.

"I then went to the tournament in China, and you weren't there either," Charlie continued. "But I did get a copy of surveillance footage of you in London. You look different. Grown up," he said with more emotions than I expected. "But even with the changes to your appearance, I'd know you anywhere. They told me your alias, and since you were listed on the roster for this event, I came. I saw you there last night. I wanted to talk to you then, but…"

"But you were waiting for a tactical team?" I questioned shakily while pointing to the back window.

"Bella, you don't understand what you're doing. This… everything… it needs to end now. You have to come home with me before… before it's too late," he said strangely, clearly struggling for words.

"How about we get back to the part where there are currently no electrical bars between us," Emmett said menacingly.

"Relax Emmett," Edward told him evenly. "You're not touching him."

"What? Please tell me you're not planning to defend him?" Emmett said exasperated.

"No," he replied darkly.

I looked at my mate, and I knew. Even without words, I knew what he was going to do. He had warned me after we first left Swan Manor. He said he would kill my father if he ever crossed paths with him again, and I knew he fully planned to uphold that.

"Edward," I murmured, no louder than a breath. His deadly glare remained locked on his target, and regardless of still loving my father in spite of everything, I knew I couldn't stop him, nor would I even try. As painful as it was, Charlie's life was Edward's for the taking, and I didn't have a doubt that my love for him would remain steadfast.

"Look away, Bella," Edward warned me sternly. But unlike when he killed Moretti, I couldn't look away. To me, it was no different than if my dad was dying from some natural disease, and I was with him, holding his hand as he took his last few breaths. How he was dying, and at who's hand, didn't really matter. It would never affect the way I felt for Edward, but to honor the good times I had with Charlie, I refused to miss one moment of the seconds he had left.

Edward closed the distance between them at an inhuman speed. His angelic face appeared frighteningly sinister as he raised his hand to my father's throat, and slowly began to squeeze. He wasn't going to make it quick, and as much as I hated seeing my father suffer, I understood why Edward was doing it. So many years he was tortured at my father's command. So much suffering my father had inflicted, not just to him, but to Emmett, and to all the other creatures in his charge. Edward was seeking revenge, and I could do nothing but stand by and watch.

When Charlie's reddened face swelled, and his eyes began to bulge, every muscle in my body tensed, and my own eyes prickled, but I refused to allow any tears to escape. I would not cry for my father - at least not right then, and certainly not in front of Edward. As horrible as it was, I had to let Edward do what he felt he needed to do, and I couldn't let my own emotions get in the way of that.

Those horrifying couple of moments felt like they went on forever. It was excruciating, and I silently prayed for it to just end. However, when Charlie's own hand grabbed a hold of Edward's, suddenly Edward froze, and his grip on my father's throat noticeably loosened.

"What are you doing? Kill him already!" Emmett shouted as Edward continued to stand there, seemingly staring blankly at my father.

"Please," Charlie gurgled, struggling to breathe through Edward's grip on his neck. "Help me."

Strangely enough, it seemed my father was asking Edward for help. The man choking the life out of him. It didn't make any sense, but everything that followed that moment made even less sense, and left me utterly discombobulated.

Edward abruptly released Charlie, causing him to drop to his knees and gasp for air.

"What the hell?" I vaguely heard Em yell through my own confusion. "Whatever. I'll finish him myself."

Emmett charged my father, who was helplessly still on his knees, but Edward shockingly must have used all his limited superhuman strength to shove Em to the side.

"No," Edward said calmly, but his eyes stormed. It wasn't the rage-filled storm I had seen in his irises before; this storm was somber, like the kind after a battle when the heroes lie dying. It was heartbreaking, and I had no idea why. Then Edward said the most staggering thing yet. "It's over. We're done here…. We lost."

"Edward, what just happened?" I asked carefully, altering my line of sight between the suddenly broken looking hybrid, and my curiously calm father, who was panting, but recovering from his near-death experience.

"Bella," Edward whispered, taking two steps closer to me. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" I asked, my confusion skyrocketing. "What's going on?" Then it occurred to me. "Wait, he showed you something, didn't he? When his hand was on you, he showed you a vision, didn't he?" I turned to my father. "What did you show him?"

"There is no way out of here," Charlie said hoarsely. "Nowhere to run. If you even try, they will kill you. Not just them, Bella, _you_ too. And if they somehow took you without causing your death, the so-called _prison_ they would put you in, is almost worse. It's not regulated by the government the way regular prisons are. Anyone committing a crime against the creature hunters, or the tournaments… it's worse than the worst thing you can imagine. I worked out a deal with them to spare you from all that, but you have to give up now."

I swallowed roughly. "Giving up would mean what exactly?"

"I let them come in here and take control of the vampires, and I take you home. Bella, it's the only way you don't all end up dead."

I shook my head in denial. "No. No, Edward we need to run," I told him as my heart began thumping so fast that I vaguely worried it would fail right then and there. "We can escape the way we did last time. Let's go!"

When Edward didn't move except for a subtle head shake of defeat, I became angry.

"What did he show you?" I cried, knowing there had to be more to it than the threat of some super prison sentence.

I reached for him, hoping to see whatever vision he saw from my father, but he stepped back, and wouldn't let me make contact.

My eyes welled up, and I became desperate. "Edward please, tell me what's going on. He must have shown you something else to make you give up like this. Please show me so I can tell you why he's wrong. Please, we can think of a way out of this. Please!" I begged, trying, yet again, to reach for him.

This time he allowed the contact, but all I could see in his mind was his unyielding love for me.

"Bella, I wish you could remember our times together when you were younger," he said softly. "Your mother knew I would never hurt you. She let you into my cage - she let you be my friend, and those truly were the happiest moments that I had known up until then. Even without understanding you were my mate, I just felt a sense of peace and joy with you, that I had never known before. When I first saw you, for the first time in my existence, I understood myself. I understood why I was put on this earth, and it was to protect you. To love you. To _not_ love you," he said with a subtle bittersweet smirk. "Even if you can't remember, I know you'll always carry it with you too."

"Edward please," I begged for understanding as the tears ran over my cheeks.

"I need you to know that I don't regret a moment of it," he whispered. "These past few months that we've had together, it made all those years of captivity before, and whatever comes next…" he paused to brush the hair out of my face. "It was all worth it, Bella. I consider myself lucky, because I got so much more than most ever will, so don't be sad. Not now, not ever. You have to keep going with your life, and never give up on yourself."

"Edward we can't be apart," I told him, feeling like I was on the verge of a panic attack. _Was he really saying goodbye to me?_ I couldn't even fathom it. My mind wouldn't accept it, but my heart was breaking into a million pieces. He knew something I didn't, and it was killing both of us.

He smiled sadly. "I wish I had done the smart thing and took you to some remote corner of the world, to just _live_. We could have spent eternity together. I guess that's where I'll always be. Dancing to the hum of the breeze blowing through the grass, and the birds singing in the distance. Remember that evening in the outback? The sky was bursting with color, and the air was so sweet. It was just you and me. I'll live in that moment for the rest of my existence."

"Edward," I murmured, pleading one more time for a way out of whatever the hell was happening.

He answered my plea by leaning in and kissing my forehead gently. "I've always been yours, Bella, and I always will be, but you need to let me go now."

I could no longer speak. My grief was choking me to the point that I could hardly breathe, but somehow I didn't lose consciousness, despite feeling like I was being shredding from the inside out. I watched in horror as my father opened the door, and in poured a group of armed men that immediately incapacitated Edward with electrified cuffs around his wrists, ankles, and neck. I was only vaguely aware when Edward apologized to Emmett and Eleazar as they were being fitted with cuffs as well, but I knew I would never forget the look in Edward's emerald irises, as they locked onto me for what I feared would be for the last time. His love and sorrow were immeasurable, but there was something else there, some kind of contentment that I didn't understand.

The moment the men forced the three of them outside, and out of my view, the shocked state I was in abruptly lifted, and in its wake was pure fury. The anger inside me was so strong that it had nowhere to escape except through my fists. Without even consciously deciding to do so, I found myself attacking my father with the all the rage-fueled force of which I was capable.

I was aware that he was yelling at me to stop, but I didn't hear it. I sensed that my knuckles were coming in contact with his skin, but I didn't feel it. Nothing else existed in my world anymore except for the ferocity of my hatred for him. I may have even wanted to kill him myself, and I probably could have succeeded, had it not been for that old familiar feeling of a sharp poke to my arm, and then everything went black…


	31. The Unknown

**Chapter 31 – The Unknown**

When the blackness greyed, and the deafness morphed into a low buzzing sound deep inside my ears, I knew I was teetering on that place between sleep and awake, where dreams felt like reality and reality felt like a dream. I wasn't sure if I wanted to open my eyes, or keep them closed forever.

But when the buzzing in my ears became more of a low hum, I could roughly make out voices, and even in my disoriented state, I couldn't help but try to strain through the muck in order to hear what they were saying…

"You used the wrong dosage in the syringe," I heard a vaguely familiar voice mutter angrily.

"We had no way of knowing what state she would be in. I erred on the side of caution, and did what I thought was right," an unknown male voice responded.

"She's been out for two days. She could have been killed!" the familiar voice hissed. "And you call yourself a doctor? This is my daughter. My only child. She isn't some lab rat for you to experiment on!"

"I apologize, Mr. Swan. It was not my intention to hurt her. I'm well aware she isn't some lab rat, but you knew this medication was still untested for use such as this. All I can do is my best."

"Well, your best just isn't good enough anymore!"

"You're welcome to try to find a replacement for me, but I've worked for you for over sixteen years, and I've never once broken confidence. _Never once_. Finding another doctor who keeps your discretions, as I have, may prove difficult. Her heartrate is steady, and I don't have a doubt she will wake soon."

"And her memory?"

"I really can't say at this point. There was never this long of a stretch of time that the drug had to erase before. With her unique condition, there is no telling how it will affect her on that level."

I struggled to understand what they were saying, or even just identify the familiar voice, but it was actually painful just trying. My brain felt like it was about to burst through my ears, and because of the intensity of the pressure, I quickly lost consciousness again.

I had no idea how long I was asleep for, but when I became aware again, I was finally able to open my eyes and see the world around me.

I sat up, and squinted in the brightness that was blinding me through the window. When my eyes finally adjusted, I was confused once more. I was in my bedroom, in my home, but I had trouble remembering anything else.

 _Had I been locked in the most realistic crazy dream ever?_ I felt like I had ventured through the looking glass and finally made my way back, but all the memories of my time in that world were foggy. Something about monsters and a handsome prince maybe? Did he slay a dragon? I couldn't be sure. I definitely remembered a dungeon, and fighting, but everything else was so hazy. Even without clarity, I felt like something profound was missing inside of me. I was empty. Void of all emotions, and I didn't understand why.

Not knowing what else to do, I got out of bed, and took a quick shower, as I did every morning – _or, at least, I thought I did every morning._ Afterwards, I went to my closet and just stared blankly at the shirts and dresses that now seemed foreign to me. _Were they even my clothes?_ I couldn't be sure. I couldn't be sure about anything anymore.

I must have stood there for over an hour, but a light knock on my door made me jump, and essentially snap out of it.

"Just a minute!" I called, before quickly dressing in the closest thing I could reach. Afterwards, I went for the door, and was surprised to see my father there, looking… strange. "Dad?"

"Yeah, I was just checking on you. You weren't feeling too well last night. High fever, and whatnot."

"Is that what happened?" I asked, unsure. "I had the strangest dreams. I'm not even sure if I'm fully awake yet. Everything is so… foggy," I said while tapping the side of my head with my palm, hoping to clear the muck, even just a little.

"Fevers can definitely mess with your mind. Why don't you come down and get some electrolytes in you. OJ would do the trick, and I just finished making some eggs and toast."

"You cooked?" I asked bewildered. "Is that something you usually do?"

"Eh, I try," he replied with a playful smirk. "Come on," he said while wrapping his arm around my shoulders to lead me down the stairs. "I'm glad you're home, Bells," he mumbled as we walked.

"Where else would I be?" I asked perplexed.

"Well, you know, you're always busy doing things and going places. We don't always get a lot of time together anymore."

I laughed once. "Well, I'm glad I could get sick so we could spend this time together."

He smiled back at me. "I never want to see you sick, but I am glad you're home today. We should do one of our Star Wars marathons. Order delivery for lunch and dinner, and just vege all day."

 _Did I even like Star Wars?_ Funny enough, I knew what the movie franchise was, but I honestly couldn't recall a single scene, or even what any of the characters looked like. My mind was seriously scrambled, and I had no idea why. Rather than freak out Charlie and cause an unnecessary overreaction on his part, I decided to keep my confusion to myself.

"Sounds great, dad," I said with all the enthusiasm I could muster, but then I thought of something. "Dad, was someone here earlier?"

Charlie pressed his lips as he considered my question. "The groundskeeper came by and rang the bell for his monthly check, but he didn't come in."

I shook my head no. "A doctor, or something?" I pressed. "I could have sworn I heard you talking to someone in my room about… _something…_ maybe." The more I tried to think about it, the more I wasn't sure what I thought I remembered.

"Oh, you know what, your doctor did drop by after I called him about your fever. He checked you out and just said to keep you hydrated, and you'd be fine."

I nodded absently, not really believing my father's explanation, but not having any reason to not believe it either.

"Let's have some breakfast," he said with quiet enthusiasm.

We sat at the kitchen table, and despite having a huge plate of food in front of me, I couldn't think of how to eat. My brain honestly couldn't even comprehend how to use the fork, so I just stared at it unseeingly.

"Not hungry?" Charlie asked, which made me look up at him. He smiled his warm smile, that always made me feel so safe as a child, but suddenly my vision was overcome by some sort of terrifying image that washed over reality. _Charlie's face swelled and reddened, his eyes bulged, and I could have sworn I saw a hand around his neck._

I had night terrors as a child - which was an odd little detail to remember with pristine clarity through my current befuddled state – but I had never had a day terror like that while I was wide awake. It was horrifying, and even after squeezing my eyes shut in the hope of erasing the vision from my mind, it was still there. In fact, in the darkness behind my eyelids, that horrifying image only sharpened.

"Bella? What's wrong?" Charlie asked with panic heavy in his voice.

"Nothing!" I yelled, a little too strongly. I took a deep breath, and was somehow able to bury that image as deep inside my mind as it could possibly go. Only then was I finally able to open my eyes and regain my composure. "Sorry, I guess I'm still not feeling very good. I think I'm just going to go back up to bed. Maybe we can start the movie marathon a little later?"

"Sure thing," he said, slightly disappointed, but smiled anyway.

I went back to my room, and got back into bed, but regardless of feeling exhausted, I couldn't sleep. Suddenly a new feeling overcame me - _Itchiness_. The itchy sensation devoured every inch of me, and I couldn't stay in bed even if I tried. I got up, and began helplessly scratching every part of me that I could reach. I paused, only to look to see if I had hives, or welts, or a rash of some sort, but there was nothing. Nothing except the deep scratches my nails were creating on my irritated skin.

Without even intending to do so, I found myself buck naked as I continued to scratch. Somehow I ended up in my bathroom, and as I glanced up at myself in the mirror, the itches abruptly disappeared.

"That was weird," I mumbled to myself.

Now I was back to staring. Staring at my nude form that somehow also seemed foreign to me. Gone was the image of the little girl that I had always seen myself as, and in its place stood a woman. A woman that, despite being a virgin, could almost feel the sensation of phantom hands caressing my skin. Every inch of my skin felt like it had been touched. Kissed. I could feel someone else's flesh pushed against me, and _inside_ of me, and it felt as real as if it was still there. Suddenly I was desperate for that feeling again. I began touching myself, in the hope of alleviating that desperate need, but it wasn't enough. I needed something more, something else… _someone_ else.

I looked up at the mirror once more. This time I focused on my face. I looked like myself, but different. I looked older, and somehow more weathered. _Was my hair always blonde?_

The ghostly feeling of someone's lips on my lips, left them tingling. Lips on my chin, and on my…. "What the heck?" I questioned when I noticed a teeth shaped scar on my neck. I traced the line with my finger, and it was strangely cool to the touch, and definitely raised.

I should have been horrified by the embossing, but even more curious was just how comforted it made me feel. I could almost feel the sensation of soft hair between my fingertips as someone sunk their teeth into that exact spot. My body tensed from the feeling, but it wasn't due to pain or fear. It was actually the opposite - lustful and erotic, but there was also an intense emotional connection that went far beyond my knowledge of love.

The more I felt those phantom feelings, the clearer my mind seemed to be. The fog was slowly lifting, but there was still something missing. It was right there, right under the surface of my mind, but I just couldn't expose it.

For whatever reason, I noticed the vent in the lower corner of my room, and I found myself lying on top of it, with my ear pressed firmly against the grate. What I was listening for - I had no idea, but I was listening intently just the same. Yearning for some kind of sound that I could almost remember, but it was just beyond the scope of my memory.

After listening for several minutes, but hearing nothing, I felt oddly sad and almost lonely, which just made my rational mind feel like an idiot.

"What the hell are you doing, Bella?" I questioned myself, before sighing and standing back up.

I finally got myself redressed, and even combed my hair. I was feeling a little more like myself, so I went downstairs and plopped on the couch next to my father. He turned on the first Star Wars movie – Episode One, that is, not the first movie that was released. We just got to the part where they found little Anikan on Tatooine, and Padme was upset because he was a slave, and that's when I was hit with another vivid image.

 _Green eyes, that glowed gold when the light hit them just right. Cages, and death. Blood and screaming. Hideous monsters, and angelic creatures more beautiful than any other sight I had ever seen. Dark dungeons, and magical sunsets._

It was like recalling a horror film, and the most incredible romantic fantasy, twisted into one epic movie. It was so real that it honestly scared me, but I became desperate to see it again.

"Everything okay?" Charlie asked me concerned.

"Yeah," I lied. "I think I just need to use the bathroom."

I ran back up to my room once more, and for whatever reason, I began searching. I had no idea what exactly I was searching for, but I needed to find it just the same. I looked in drawers and under my mattress. I rummaged through my closet, and then tore apart my bathroom vanity.

Nothing seemed strange or out of the ordinary, but then something caught my eye, and I froze. There was something about that blue tampon box that demanded my attention, and for a reason I didn't understand, I reached for it, and slowly opened the top.

Without knowing something would be hidden inside, I just knew, and I wasn't surprised when I pulled out a tightly rolled small paper notepad.

Once I straightened the papers, I recognized my own handwriting, and as I read the words detailing the craziest scenarios of vampires and werewolves, which aligned perfectly with my murky dreams, I abruptly realized I was living a lie. The handsome prince and the terrifying monsters that I vaguely remembered were all true, and the reality I was currently living in was the nightmare. I still couldn't remember anything clearly, and the images I did recall felt like they happened to someone else, almost like watching a movie, but I knew my mind had been messed with, and I wanted to know why.

I intended to go question my father, but something made me turn right, instead of going left towards the living room. I crept quietly towards the dark side of the manor, somehow knowing that if my father caught me it would mean serious trouble. I walked right to a dusty old storage closet, and somehow just knew it hid a dark secret.

Sure enough, I found a hatch; and as I opened it I was struck by an intense feeling of déjà vu that I had been there before.

Without fear, I descended the rickety old ladder, and found myself in a dark damp dungeon. I walked through, and straight to an elevator at the end of the room. The buttons were confusing, but I knew exactly which one to press – the C1 button.

After the elevator descended, and the doors opened, I wasn't surprised to walk into a prison-like area full of barred cells. What did surprise me, however, was that they were all empty. In my foggy memory, they had been full of supernatural creatures, and a sense of fear overcame me as I considered what happened to them.

I continued on my way, and eventually found myself entering a library type of room that I knew, without a doubt, was my father's secret office. I mentally noted that there wasn't a computer on the desk, like I would have assumed, and it wasn't until that moment that I realized I had gone in there hoping to use that missing computer. I still wasn't sure what I would have searched for in its archives, but I was deeply disheartened that it was gone.

I left the office, not knowing where to go next, and after wandering around aimlessly, I found my way to the giant arena. It was eerie to look at, so I didn't stay long. Eventually I stumbled on what looked like science labs, which were also barren of anything. It was as if some unknown force had swooped in and took absolutely everything that had once been there. It was beyond upsetting, and I still wasn't exactly sure why.

An intense feeling of anxiety soon came over me, too intense to ignore, so I started running. I ran towards the elevator, and clicked the G button. The elevator ascended quickly, and once it stopped, the doors opened to a long dark hall, which I followed to a pair of open doors that lead outside.

I had a strong urge to run towards the surrounding woods, but that was when I noticed several large military looking vehicles lined up in front of the manor. I crept around the corner of the building to see what was going on, and the urge to run increased tenfold. However, when I saw my father being forcefully dragged out of the front door by two armed men in military-like uniforms, I denied my instincts and did the stupidest thing I could - I tried to help him.

I ducked behind one of the vehicles, and intended to slip into the driver's seat of the one they were about to load my father into, but I should have known it couldn't be that easy.

"Freeze!" a man demanded with his gun pointed right at my head. Suddenly I had a dozen men swarm me, and each one was barking orders and threatening to shoot me. My eyes locked onto Charlie's, and the fear and panic radiating out of his was palpable.

"Stay calm!" he called to me. "Everything is going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of this. Just stay calm," he said, but was silenced when one of the men pounded the end of his gun into his gut.

"Dad!" I screamed.

When a man wearing a white doctor's coat exited the house, with another man who appeared to be in charge, my father quickly recovered from his blow, and raged. "You son of a bitch! I trusted you!"

When my father was struck again in the face, he lost consciousness. I screamed, "Dad!" once more, and didn't even care about the guns pointed at me as I tried to run to him.

Just as I was about to reach him, I was grabbed from behind, and restrained by two large men as I thrashed around. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the man in the white coat approach, and then there was a sharp poke to my arm, quickly followed by everything becoming dark.

…

When my eyes opened again, I was left reeling in my bewilderment. I couldn't remember ever being that confused before in my life, but then again, I couldn't remember my life at all anymore, so I couldn't be sure. I could hear voices, and sensed someone touching me, but at that point, I couldn't even identify my own name.

 _Where was I?_

 _Who was I?_

 _Why did everything hurt?_

"Bella?" a gentle female voice said. The name sounded familiar, so I looked up at her. Her golden locks fell on either side of her face, obscuring parts of her features. But the parts that I could see were breathtakingly beautiful. _Was she an angel? Was I dying?_

"She's finally waking up, but she's weak. Can someone bring her some food or something? When was the last time she had any nourishment? Hello?" The woman pounded on what looked like a window of some sort above my head. "Bring her some food! God dammit! She's been in here for three days, and I haven't seen anyone feed her once."

"They're not in there," a male voice mumbled from somewhere out of my view. "I think that big guy you're always with killed the entire infirmary team again when he was in here with a detached arm."

The woman huffed. "I'm going to kill him! _Whatever_. They can't just leave her in here without any means to survive. Surely they have other people to replace the dead guys, right?" She banged on the window again. " _Someone get in here and help her!_ "

"Try giving her some of your pouch," the man advised.

I fought through the tingling numbness that ran through every inch of my body, to somehow get my head to turn towards the sound of the man's voice. He too was beautiful, but he was a little rougher around the edges. His light brown shaggy hair fell to his shoulders, and his returning amber stare was absolutely penetrating. Even without knowing him, I felt like I knew him, which made my disoriented state just a little less terrifying.

"Damn it, _Garrett_ , I'm not giving her that!" the woman spat in response to the man's suggestion. "She's human, stupid! Haven't you learned by now that your harebrained ideas are what keeps getting you sent back to this place."

"If she is human, then why is she in here?" the man replied confused.

"I don't know!" she hissed at him. "Maybe because she spent so much time with vampires that they think some of our greatness rubbed off on her. How the hell would I know? These people here are morons. Don't you know that by now?"

"Give her the blood," the man insisted. "There is at least protein and some nutrients in there. Maybe it will help."

"Or, it will kill her! Ever hear of iron poisoning? Well, it's a real thing for humans. It's not worth the risk."

"Looks like she is about to die anyway. Her heartbeat is faint. A little shouldn't hurt her, but it can possibly help. Just try."

The woman must have taken a moment to consider whatever the heck the man was suggesting, but the next thing I knew, the room became crowded as a group of people wearing white lab coats entered the space.

"She almost starved to death!" I heard the woman hiss at them.

"Be quiet before I taze you!" someone threatened her.

"You think that would stop me before I snapped your scrawny little neck?" the woman threatened back.

"You're chained to the wall, with a high volt electrical current running through the metal," the man retorted. "I'm not scared."

"You should be," she replied menacingly. "Someday soon I'm going to break free from this shithole, and I'm coming after you first."

"Sure you will, you fucking bitch. You're going to die down here, and I'm going to be the one to light your corpse."

"Enough!" a man wearing a grey suit shouted. "I told you not to engage with the subjects!" he chided him. "Now, get back to work."

I was vaguely aware that someone was poking at me, but I could hardly feel it. My entire body felt so weak that it was hard to feel anything.

"The vein keeps collapsing. I can't get the needle in," I heard a different voice say. "Whatever concoction they gave her on the way out here was too powerful. It's basically poisoning her and making her organs shut down. There isn't anything more I can do. She isn't going to make it…"

"That is unacceptable!" the grey suit guy announced. "I paid too much for this one. Someone hold it up and force the solution down its throat."

As I was being forced up to a seated position, my weak eyes wheeled around the room. Most of the people in there were wearing white lab coats, but other than them, and the grey suit guy, I also saw the blonde woman again. She was dressed in all black, which made her golden locks look that much brighter, but it was her heavily troubled expression that I noticed most about her.

My eyes continued involuntarily scanning the room, until they strangely locked on the man with the brown shaggy hair once more. He too was wearing all black, and his expression was similar to the woman's, except there was something else there. His concern was mixed with some other emotion that I couldn't quite decipher. Without understanding anything that was happening, I still knew I was only a few breaths away from death, but looking at that particular man somehow gave me a sense of peace. We were connected in some way, and I was glad he was there for me in the end.

My vision went in and out of focus, but when it was in, I kept my sight on that same man. As I watched, I reflexively used what little energy I had remaining to attempt to swat away whatever the others were doing to my face, which only seemed to make them angry. The man holding my mouth opened used his free hand to slap me across my cheek, not that I felt it, but it did cause a low growl from the shaggy haired man. The sound made me refocus all my attention on him, and to my bafflement, he began mouthing something to me.

I felt my brows raise in confusion as he kept repeating the same two words over and over again. Somehow I was able to drown out all the noise in the room, and the man's silent words echoed through me like faint rumbling in the distance.

' _Bite him.'_

I didn't know how I was able to understand him, or why the hell I would ever listen to a stranger telling me to do something so outlandish, but the next thing I knew, I was grabbing the hand that was holding my mouth open, and somehow, someway, the wrist attached to that hand ended up between my teeth. I didn't have much strength, but my jaw easily clamped down, and the hot liquid that spilled into my mouth was like a jolt to my system in the most incredible way possible. I could feel my strength returning to me, and it was coming back faster and stronger than I ever could have imagined. With that newfound strength, came something even more profound… _knowledge_.

A rush of memories ran through my mind, and not just the ones I had lost recently, but the ones that were stolen from me as a child too…

The feeling of lying against my mother's chest. The warmth of her skin. The smell of her hair. The way she would often wake me in the middle of the night so the two of us could sneak down to the dungeon to have midnight playdates with my special friend.

" _Do you want to go see Edward, Bella?" Mother whispered in my sleeping ear._

 _I would hear his name, even in my slumber, and I'd get excited. It didn't matter how tired I was, or how deep of a sleep I was in, I would never pass on a chance to spend time with_ my _vampire._

 _She would carry me through the dark house, and down to where Edward was caged. She would never hesitate to let me in, or even occasionally leave me alone with him as she would do other secretive things in the night._

 _Edward was always just as thrilled to see me as I him. He would always be happy to read a new book to me, or play a new game. Often times I would fall asleep in his arms, only to wake up in the morning back in my bed._

 _But the most curious of my times with Edward, were the tea parties. I could distinctively remember the sharp smell of blood that my mother would poor into Edward's cup, and just sometimes, she would give me a wink, and pour that same blood into my cup as well._

" _Just a little, my love," she'd tell me. "And remember…"_

" _It's our secret," I'd affirm._

" _That's right, princess." She would kiss the tip of my nose, and I'd squeal with delight before gulping down that wonderful flavor like it was the best treat in the world._

 _I even remembered when Edward once asked why she would put blood in my tea, but she would just dismiss it by saying - "She just wants to be like you. A little can't hurt her."_

…

The moment my mother's words ran through my mind, my focus immediately jumped back to the present.

"It was a lie," I said, abruptly coming to that realization. My new revelation was staggering, gutting even, but something momentarily put the thought on hold. "What happened here?" I asked slowly, and slightly horrified, as I noticed the pile of dead bodies at my feet.

"You… you killed all of them," the blonde woman, who I now recognized as Rosalie, said in an obvious state of shock.

"What?...How?" I mumbled, having no idea how else to respond to that.

"I think that was the most incredible thing I've ever seen in my entire existence. I wish Em was in here to witness it. How did you do that, Bella?" Rosalie questioned in awe.

"I… I… I don't know. I don't even remember doing any of it… But I do remember everything else, and by everything, I mean _everything_. I'm glad you're safe, Rose, but where's Edward? I need to talk to him right away."

The fact that I just murdered a group of men without even realizing it, strangely didn't even bother me at that moment. I just wanted to reunite with my mate, and hopefully, with his help, untangle the web of lies I had existed in for my entire childhood.

"We haven't seen Edward," she said regretfully, making my heart drop. "When Emmett and Eleazar arrived here, Edward wasn't with them. They said he was loaded into a different vehicle, and they haven't seen him since."

I swallowed roughly. "Well, we need to figure out a way to get out of here so we can find him... Where are we, anyway?"

"Alaska. This is the infamous vampire sanctuary. Isn't it lovely?" she asked sarcastically, and then she began to ramble. "Well, actually this is the infirmary, to be exact. They bring vampires in here to recover from detached limbs, and whatnot. I was confused as to why they had you down here with us; you know, because there aren't any other humans down here besides the sadistic wannabe doctors. But after seeing what you just did to all those men, I'd say you most definitely belong with us. Did Edward change you before you separated? Or maybe all the mating bites he's given you have finally had an affect. He was mostly human for all that time, so maybe his venom just took longer to work. I can still hear your heart beating, so maybe his hybrid venom turned you into a hybrid too. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

I did a quick scan through my earliest memories, and then I shook my head no. "Rosalie, I'm pretty sure I was born like this."

"What?" she asked in disbelief. "Like you're a natural hybrid? Why wouldn't you know that before?"

"When Edward ate human food, he became more human," I said as I considered it. "All I've ever had was a human diet, so…" I shrugged. "My parents never told me anything. My entire life has been a lie."

"Hold on," Rose stopped me. "Your father was an owner, right? I think they would have known if he was a vampire. Unless you think he wasn't actually your father?"

"Charles Swan is definitely my father, but my mother…"

"Was a hybrid," the shaggy haired vampire interjected.

I narrowed my eyes at the comforting stranger, who even after the return of my memories, I still didn't know. "Who are you?"

"That's just Garrett," Rosalie said dismissively. "He has been here way too long. He always comes up with the craziest ideas, so don't mind him."

I ignored her. "How are we connected?" I pressed.

"Renee," he replied slowly. "She was my daughter."

….


	32. Black

**Chapter 32 – Black**

"Wait, you're saying you're her grandfather?" Rosalie asked with a snicker.

"Yes, I believe that I am," Garrett replied gently, but he looked at me as he spoke.

"How is that even possible?" Rose asked skeptically. "I'm not saying you're wrong, but I think you're wrong. My father had a hybrid, but only because he had years of experimental procedures and concoctions done to him beforehand, which allowed him to reproduce with a human. Otherwise, humans and vampires are incompatible."

"Was your father working at the Higginbotham lab?" Garrett asked her.

She raised her brows in surprise. "Yeah."

"So did I," he told her. "What was your father's name?"

"Carlisle…"

"Carlisle Cullen? Yes, I knew him well. We both went through the same tests and experiments. We worked closely together for many years."

"He never spoke of you to me," Rose said, still not entirely convinced.

"No, we vowed to leave every aspect of the labs in the labs, even our friendships. I knew Carlisle had a vampire daughter that he traded his service for protection, but he never mentioned your name."

"So, who was Bella's human grandmother that you impregnated then? And why does she think her mother was a Higginbotham?" Rose questioned.

Even though she was the one asking questions before I had a chance to, I was grateful for her. The truth was, I was in such a state of shock about everything that I probably wouldn't have even known what to ask at all. But even more than my shock, was the strange new sensation I was suddenly experiencing. Not only did I feel stronger than I ever had before, but there was an odd feeling of being wet that was completely perplexing. Every inch of my skin felt cool, and if I wasn't looking at its dry texture, and walking on dry land, I would have sworn I was under water. It didn't make sense, but I tried not to focus on it too much, as I was still listening to Rose and Garrett's conversation about my very existence.

"Renee was technically a Higginbotham, through her mother," Garrett explained. "Kate Higginbotham was the most brilliant human I had ever encountered. Her father, Henry Higginbotham the Third, was obsessed with the idea that humans could be injected with just enough vampire cells, that it would give them superhuman strength and immortality, without all the bloodlust that comes with vampirism."

"He wanted to create a new super-human race," I mumbled, remembering Eleazar's explanation of the time Carlisle spent in that same lab.

Garrett nodded. "That is exactly right. But before that could be accomplished, the vampire cells needed to be weakened, just enough, so that it was possible for them to bond with human cells. The team of vampires working there would test the concoctions we invented on ourselves. Carlisle, I, and a few others, took the same concoctions. Now, we took a great many concoctions, so to this day, I'm still not sure which one was potent."

"So, Kate Higginbotham also worked in the labs?" I asked, yearning to fully understand where I came from.

"Yes, she had an incredible mind. She grew up with her father talking about the supernatural possibilities, so by the time she went to college, she knew exactly what she wanted to be. A scientist. And she was absolutely fearless. She tried injecting herself with many different creature DNA, to see if any of them would adhere to her DNA strand, changing her genetic makeup. She became sick, several times, but she always recovered. Always, that is, until she ultimately died in childbirth."

"So, you loved her?" I asked, somewhat sad from hearing about the way she died, but still eager to learn more.

"I did, but I can't exactly say that the feeling was mutual. She was the one I went to when those concoctions started giving me more human emotions, as well as certain human _physical reactions._ "

Rose laughed again. "Are you talking about an erection? I can just imagine how terrifying it was for you when your penis started to work again," she said through her sudden belly laugh.

Garrett huffed. "Yes, that part of me was able to function again, and Kate was interested in… _testing_ it. She made it very scientific though, and always documented every little detail of our physical experimentations. At one point, I confessed my affections for her, but she would just tell me we needed to stay focused on our work." He sighed heavily. "When she realized she was pregnant, she was excited, but not in a maternal type of way; it was all very clinical for her. She was interested in figuring out _what_ exactly she was carrying, and the type of diet _it_ would need. She never referred to her as a baby; it was always a fetus, or she even called it a creature on a few occasions. Her attitude was disheartening to me, but I suppose I should have expected it, given her upbringing."

"How did her father react?" Rose asked, letting go of some of her immature joking to thankfully become serious again.

"Surprisingly well… at first," Garrett replied. "He too was excited to see what would come of it, but when her health started to decline, and we couldn't figure out how to help her, he became angry. When our daughter was born, Kate just wanted to examine her, but she was too weak and ended up dying from blood loss. Everyone that was there that day became frantic, because we all knew Mr. Higginbotham would be on a rampage once he found out she didn't make it."

"So, that's why my father ran away from the lab?" Rosalie questioned.

"As soon as Kate's health took a turn for the worst, I told Carlisle, and a few others, to run. It was a tense time."

"So what happened after my mother was born? After Kate passed?" I questioned.

"I held that perfect little miracle in my arms, and just marveled at her beauty, while the scientist tried to save Kate. She was so amazing, and so alert beyond her age. There was a profound intelligence that went far beyond the norm for a newborn. She was the most incredible being I had ever laid eyes on," he said with astonishment from the memory.

"My brother was like that too when he was born," Rose said, her soft tone matching Garrett's. "Such a miraculous creature."

"Renee was my child, but she was immediately taken from me," Garrett continued. "Kate's parents were enraged over her death, and they locked me away because of it. I was later sold to the highest bidder, and never told what became of my daughter. That was over a hundred and fifty years ago."

My mouth fell agape. "My mother was a hundred and fifty years old?"

"Give or take a few decades. I've been locked up for a long time, so it's easy to lose track of the years. All I know for certain is that I've spent every moment, of this past century and a half, biding my time, and hoping for the day I could look into her big brown eyes again."

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but my mom died about sixteen years ago," I informed him regretfully.

He smiled sadly, and nodded his head. "Yes, I was recently informed of her passing."

"How? By who?"

"Your father," Garrett replied shockingly.

"My father?" I repeated, dumbfounded.

"Yes. Charles Swan met with me in London after my previous owner pulled me from the tournament there last minute."

"Wait, are you _The Yankee_?" I asked, realizing that we had never been chasing Carlisle after all.

"That is what they call me, yes. I was pulled from the tournament because my owner thought I couldn't beat the shifter I was set to face, which is laughable. I've been against several shifters over the past century, and none were very difficult to dispatch. But not long after that, Charles Swan met me in my cell, and we discussed Renee, as well as _you_. He even showed me your picture. I was devastated to learn of my daughter's death, but I was thrilled to know I have a granddaughter. Of course, learning you were missing, and possibly playing some kind of cat and mouse game with these owners, I became deeply concerned for your wellbeing. Charles was in a state of panic, and begged me to protect you if I ever saw you. He actually attempted to buy me himself, so we could somehow work together to locate you, but my owner wouldn't have it."

"So, my dad definitely knows what I am," I concluded, previously wondering if he was even aware of the truth. In my newly clear memories of my mother, it almost seemed like our superhuman side was a secret, even from Charlie. Perhaps that was just a misinterpretation.

"Unfortunately, I don't have many other answers for you when it comes to your parents. My time with Charles was limited, so we didn't discuss everything; I'm not even certain as to how he knew I was Renee's father."

"Your previous owner wouldn't sell you to Mr. Swan, but he didn't have a problem selling you to Mr. Arostali?" Rose questioned.

"My father's funds are limited," I stated. "Judging by the looks of this place, I'd say Mr. Arostali has sufficient means to outbid just about anyone."

"That's possible," Garrett said with a nod. "Quite honestly, none of it makes much sense to me, but I am grateful that you're here now. I will do for you what I never got the chance to do for my child - protect you with my life."

"Uh, no offense or anything, but like me, you're chained to a wall, and she just kicked some major ass," Rose pointed out. "I think we could use _her_ protection right about now. Arostali slithered out of the room when Bella started killing the staff, so I'm sure he will be back in no time with more goons. Bella, is there any way you can break these chains?"

"They're electrified!" Garrett hissed. "She is only part vampire. A shock from these could…."

Before he had a chance to complete his sentence, I had Rosalie's shackles off.

"Now, that's what I'm talking about!" Rose cheered.

"How did you do that?" Garrett asked in awe.

"I just did it," I replied while walking towards him. I fought through the momentary stinging zap to break his cuffs as well.

"Are you in pain?" Garrett asked, concerned for my hands, as he held them up to examine them.

"It's not bad. Is it extra humid in here?" I asked as the phantom moisture all over my skin, cooled any pain my hands had felt from the electricity. "Should I be feeling so wet?"

"Wet?" Rose asked. She sped across the room, and took my hands from Garrett to examine them herself. "Oh, my god," she gasped, so I looked down at my palms as well, and was just as surprised as Rose. The skin there was visibly sizzling from the electrified chains "That doesn't hurt?"

"It did at first, but nowhere nearly as bad as it looks. It's weird, though; it really feels like I'm soothing the burns in cold water. Why is that? I don't see any moisture on the walls, or anything."

"No, these caves are pretty dry, actually," Rose told me as she continued to examine my hands. "How long have you been feeling the moisture?"

"Pretty much since I did that," I said while gesturing to the pile of dead bodies on the ground.

"So, basically since you awakened your inner vampire," Rose figured. "Well, you're definitely healing quickly. Look? They're already less red than they were a minute ago. But I don't have any ideas about the cold wet feeling."

"Vampires have colder skin," Garrett offered. "And venom runs a little cooler than the average human body temperature."

"Yeah, but she doesn't have venom running through her, at least not in the normal way vampires do. And regardless, that doesn't explain her feeling wet," Rose argued.

Both vampires examined my hands again, and remarkably, the redness was rapidly receding into my normal pale pink color.

"Amazing," Garrett said with astonishment.

"Yeah, that is pretty trippy, considering I grew up as the biggest klutz at my school. Curious how I got so many broken bones as a child if I was capable of healing this quickly?"

"Your body must have been struggling due to your nutrition," Garrett mused. "I imagine it would be like feeding a lion a vegetarian diet."

"Edward told me that he was never given blood to feed on while he was imprisoned," I remembered. "He was always fed raw meat instead."

"Oh yeah, that's what we fed him when he was little too," Rosalie confirmed. "We gave him straight blood a few times, and he was somehow even stronger than us. It was crazy. He threw a tantrum once, and he damn near made a crater in the ground and ripped my dad's arm off. My dad said he figured it was due to the human blood running through his veins. It's like a constant flow of extreme human adrenaline, mixed with the strength of a newborn vampire. We found that if we fed him raw meat, he would still be strong, but more controllable."

"That makes sense," Garrett agreed.

"It doesn't last though, so we better make good use of your super– _super_ human strength, and try to get the hell out of here," Rosalie suggested.

"Where will we go?" Garrett asked. "There is no way for us to get out of these tunnels. If we get out of this infirmary, we will still be at Arostali's mercy."

"Yeah, but at least we will be in the general vampire population, and they can help protect Bella when they come for her. Trust me, they aren't going to want to fight through everyone here just to punish her. That would be way too dangerous."

"She has a heartbeat," Garrett argued. "The vampires out there may attack her. I'm not willing to risk her life like that."

"Listen Garrett, I think this little paternal, or _grand-paternal,_ thing you have for Bella, is great," Rose told him patronizingly. "But my mate is out there, as well as my father's mate. We are a strong coven, which Bella has been a part of for some time now, whereas you just met her. We will be the ones to protect her."

"How about we all just get the hell out of here together," I said in a rush as I heard footsteps approaching.

I didn't wait for them to argue before we ran for the infirmary exit. The three of us had to work together to slam through the gate, but once it was broken, I reflexively grabbed them both by their collars, and forced them to drop to the ground with me as electrified bullets whizzed over our heads.

"Holy shit!" Rose said, from the ground next to me.

I didn't understand how I knew to pull them down in that way, but I didn't have time to really analyze it either. A team of men were still firing at us from down the long corridor, and they were closing in quickly.

We ducked under the gunfire, and Garrett led us through the maze of halls, until we found our way to a pair of doors that were at least ten feet high, and just as wide.

"Wait, they're locked," Rose shouted over the echoes of the gunfire and men shouting as they closed in on us.

"Only from the inside," Garrett said in a rush. "We need to all push it together. On three. One.."

"Just push, damn it!" Rose shouted.

The door was super heavy, even for our combined super strength, but we managed to push through, and I was shocked by what was on the other side.

"Wow," I said, slightly bashful by the large number of red eyes looking at us. There had to be at least fifty vampires in that space, all dressed in black, and all zeroed in on the singular heartbeat. _Wonderful_.

Behind a few hisses, and a couple snapping teeth, I heard a boisterous voice that drowned out all the other noises.

"Holy fuck me to hell!"

Despite the intense situation, I smiled as my favorite obnoxiously-loud-big-brother-type vampire walked into view.

"What is going on here? Are you a vampire now?" Emmett asked me as he grabbed me in a tight, but still gentle, bear hug. "No. You still have that weird heartbeat. Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what the hell are you doing in here?"

"Bella, are you alright?" Eleazar asked as he walked out of the crowd. I hugged him hello as well, and was slightly relieved to see the majority of our family was safe for the time being.

Before I had a chance to reply to Eleazar's concern, Emmett let out a low warning growl to the surrounding vampires; a couple of which, were getting a little too close to me for his comfort.

"You stay back too!" Em snarled at Garrett.

"Garrett isn't going to hurt her, you big oaf," Rose told him. "He's her grandfather."

"Her grandfather? Like he had a kid before he was turned into a vampire, and they had kids, and they had kids, and eventually had her?" Em questioned.

"No, he is her grandfather the way my dad would be the grandfather of Edward's kids," Rosalie replied. "He fucked a human, and they had a hybrid. Then that hybrid fucked another human, and they had her. She is like, a quarter vampire, and just as strong. She wiped out the entire infirmary staff without even realizing it."

"Whoa, really? That's awesome!" Em said excitedly.

"Another hybrid?" Eleazar said, mostly to himself. "How extraordinary. Did you undergo lab tests as well?" he asked Garrett.

The two elder vampires began conversing amongst themselves, but Em didn't care about the logistics of it all, he was just happy to have me as part of the immortal world.

"No wonder you're Edward's mate," he said excitedly. "Totally makes sense now. I bet that's what your dad showed him, that made him stop choking him and give up the way he did. He must have been trying to save you from being imprisoned and thrown into the tournament system. I guess his surrender didn't do you any good after all. That really sucks actually."

"You don't think Edward knew what I was all along?" I questioned.

"No way. Why wouldn't he tell you if he knew? He has been talking about wanting to change you, and all that. Now he doesn't have to. You could both just switch to an all blood diet, and live forever naturally."

"We have to get out of here and find Edward before we can start thinking about forever," Rose pointed out.

Talk of Edward's surrender, and his current missing status, made my stomach twist in excruciating knots. "Where could they have taken him?" I asked concerned. "I have a really bad feeling that something terrible is happening to him."

"You said she killed the infirmary staff, right?" Emmett asked Rose, before turning to me. "That's badass, by the way. I've done that a couple times since I've been here. Really pisses off Arostali. Did you get a chance to kill that motherfucker too? Maybe if he's dead it will be easier to break out of here."

"I'm afraid Arostali wasn't amongst the murdered," I told him, once again, surprising myself by my utter lack of remorse.

"The little snake slithered out of the room when the carnage began, and locked the door after him so his staff was left to be slaughtered," Rose added.

"Fucking pansy!" Emmett spat. "What about you? Your arm healed?" he asked his mate.

"What happened to your arm?" I questioned.

She rolled her eyes. "Just a little mishap while training. That's why I was in the infirmary; it's fine now. But I'm not sure you're fine." She looked back at Em. "They were shooting at us as we ran from the infirmary. We should keep her in the middle of the crowd so they can't grab her when they come in here."

"You heard the lady!" Em announced to all the other vampires there, which I now realized were mostly listening to our conversation. "Move around this little hybrid here. And if anyone so much as bares their fangs at her, I'll rip off your head and throw it into the fire."

Surprisingly, all the vampires obeyed, and they surrounded us to make a tight barrier between me, and whatever the hell was coming for me.

It took a few more minutes, but then the big doors opened once again, and in rushed a team of heavily armed men. Behind the men, was the man in the grey suit, who I now remembered as being Mr. Arostali.

"Where is she?" Mr. Arostali demanded. "I know she is in here. Produce her at once, or we will open fire on all of you."

"No, you won't," Emmett stepped forward and challenged him. "Whatever the hell you're doing with all of us here, you aren't willing to lose any of our numbers, which is why you keep fixing us up when we break off limbs, despite how many of your staff we kill. So, I suggest, you get the fuck out of here before we charge you and rip _you_ limb from limb. Tell me, Mr. Arostali, can you reattach human extremities the way you can with vampires?"

Arostali glared at him for a long moment, and then waved at his men to stand down. "I will back in three hours. At which time, I expect to speak to the hybrid, or no one is getting fed. Am I making myself clear?"

"As clear as piss," Emmett replied condescendingly.

Mr. Arostali and his men retreated, and Rosalie didn't waste any time trying to get me acclimated to my new surroundings.

"Come on. Let's get you all set up," she told me casually, which was slightly disorienting coming off of such an intense standoff with Arostali.

"Um… okay," I said, while following her through the premises.

She began showing me around, with Emmett, Eleazar, and Garrett trailing closely behind us, and to my surprise, the so-called vampire sanctuary was a little community in of itself. The cave system that we were locked in was fairly large compared to the area below Swan Manor. There were multiple chambers, where each vampire, or vampire couple, could claim as their own, as well as a large common area, and even a training ring that the vampires sparred in at their discretion. It was all very strange, when considering it. What was the purpose? Arostali clearly wasn't some vampire advocate the way Mike and Lauren claimed to be for shifters. So what was the real reason to keep vampires in that way?

"Wow, so this place is… _interesting_ ," I said, unsure how else to describe it.

"Yeah, but it's at least better than the eight by four foot cage my last owner had me in," Rose scoffed. "If I had to be put back into captivity, it could definitely be worse."

"Speaking of which, where is Esme?" I wondered, realizing I hadn't seen Edward's mother yet. Surely she had to be there if she was the reason Rosalie lost her freedom.

"I haven't seen her since the match," Rose replied discouragingly. "When we were in the ring, I tried explaining that she needed to lose so we could buy her, but she wouldn't listen. It was like she was feral, or something. I know Esme, and that wasn't her. I mean, it was her, but it wasn't. I asked around once I got down here, but no one knew anything about her either. It's all so strange."

"Esme and Edward are both missing," I said slowly, mostly to myself. "There has to be a connection."

"It's only temporary," Emmett said confidently. "We're going to get out of here and find them. It's only a matter of time."

I nodded in uncertain agreement.

"Here is Eleazar's chamber," Rose pointed out after her tour took us down a long hall. "I don't know where Garrett's is, but this is ours, and the one right next to it is vacant, so I guess it's now yours."

I shook my head no. "I don't plan on being here long enough to need my own chamber."

"Hate to break it to you, kid, but with us all locked up, and Edward, _who knows where,_ we could be stuck in here for a long time," Emmett said regretfully.

"But you're more than likely immortal, so spending a few decades down here won't be so bad," Rose said encouragingly.

Just then, the wet feeling I had been experiencing, seemed to devour me completely, and I found myself needing to hunch over just to catch my breath. I knew I wasn't drowning, but every once in awhile, it sure felt like I was. _What the hell was that?_

"Bella, what's wrong?" Garrett asked me concerned.

"I don't know. It's the water…" I said, but then paused when I needed to take a deep breath.

"What water?" Eleazar asked confused.

Rosalie explained my issue to Eleazar and Emmett, but neither of them had any ideas as to what it could be either.

"Maybe she just needs to rest," Garrett suggested. "She must be exhausted after everything that's been happening to her. Why don't we give her a little space? I'll go and see if there are any pillows and blankets around here so she can rest."

"That's a good idea," Eleazar agreed.

"While she's resting, I'll go find her some clothes to change into," Rose announced.

"I'll just hang outside your door to make sure no one bugs you," Emmett told me protectively.

"Thanks guys," I said, sincerely grateful. I had no idea what I would have done without them.

The door to the private chamber shut, leaving me somewhat alone, so I sat on the cold, hard, ground, and tried to make the room stop floating in my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, I'd see water, and it honestly terrified me. Garrett was right about me feeling exhausted, but at the same time, I couldn't relax, not with the drowning sensation that I was continually plagued with.

My eyes became heavy, and my mind was starting to become delirious from the sensation. I tried to fight it off, but it soon became too much. Once I let go, and allowed myself to sink below the waves in my mind, that's when I saw it.

Water.

So much water.

And in the middle of the vast ocean of wet nothingness… was Edward.

I gasped, and immediately opened my eyes to see my new cave home, but the very vivid image had left me panting.

Emmett must have heard my struggle, because he threw the door opened and rushed to my side.

"What happened? What's wrong?" he asked intensely, as if he was ready to fight off whoever, or whatever, wronged me.

"It's Edward," I said between breaths. "He's drowning again. We need to get to him."

"Drowning again? What are you talking about?"

Eleazar returned from wherever he went, and told me to take some deep breaths. "You're probably just remembering the last time Edward drowned," he tried reassuring me.

"When did Edward drown?" Em asked confused.

Eleazar mumbled a quick explanation, but I couldn't focus on it.

"This is different!" I told them strongly. "It wasn't a memory. It's like it's happening to him now. I can _feel_ the water around me, because it's around him. He's drowning as we speak. We have to help him!"

"It is true that vampire mates can have a cerebral connection, but it's based more on instincts in the face of danger, rather than actually seeing images the way you're describing," Eleazar told me.

"It doesn't matter. I don't care how it works, all I know is that I have to get to him."

"Bella, listen," Rosalie said to me, somehow returning to the room without me even realizing it. "If Edward did drown before, then that means he also recovered. If he is in water again, it's not going to kill him."

A tear spilled over my cheek. "You don't understand. He was tortured with water as a child. I can't imagine a worse prison for him."

"I'm sorry," she said emotionally. "I hate the idea of him suffering just as much as you do, but there's just nothing we can do for him right now."

"But we will get out of here eventually," Emmett added. "And I don't have a doubt Edward will be there when we do."

"Until then, here," Rose said, handing me a pile of what looked like black leather.

"What's this?"

"Your new clothes. They insist we all wear black down here, so hurry and get changed. The three hours Arostali allotted us is almost up."

"There's no way in hell she is meeting him," Emmett disagreed.

"She has to," Rose argued. "If they withhold our feedings, all the vampires will become desperately thirsty, lose their minds, and start killing each other."

"I'll meet him," I interrupted them.

"But…"

I put my hand up to stop Emmett's protest.

"He didn't buy me just to kill me. Whatever he has to say must be important. Maybe he knows something about Edward."

"She will be fine," Rosalie told Emmett doubtlessly, but then her attention abruptly shifted back to me. "What did you do to your hair?"

"What?" I asked confused.

"It must have darkened five shades since I first saw you in the infirmary."

"It has?" I asked, trying to pull a strand across my face so I could see it. Sure enough, it was just about back to my natural color, except for a little bit of blonde left on the ends.

"I guess your newly awakened vamp cells wanted to fix the damage left by the bleach."

"Guess so," I agreed.

Everyone left me alone again so I could change, but the outfit Rose brought for me was utterly absurd. A black leather skin-tight jumpsuit, topped with a ridiculous corset. I didn't want to put it on, but with no other clothes available to me, it seemed I didn't have any choice. Surprisingly, the soft leather slid on easily, and almost felt like a second skin. It wasn't suffocating like I was expecting; on the contrary, even with the corset, it was probably one of the most comfortable outfits I had ever worn. More importantly was the way it made me feel – like a total badass.

"Well, damn," Emmett said as I exited my chamber.

"Oh yeah, you were born to wear that," Rose added.

"Um, perhaps there's something else she could wear that's a little less…. less," Garrett said as he met us down the hall.

"Don't be a prude, she looks amazing," Rose told him.

"Let's just get this meeting over with," I told them, unconcerned about anything other than questioning Arostali about Edward.

My vampire family escorted me to the common area of the facility. We waited for another twenty minutes or so, before the giant doors slowly opened again. I should have known Arostali was too much of a chicken shit to meet me back down there amongst the other vampires, but when the armed men showed up without him, I was slightly disappointed. A small part of me was hoping he would get rushed by the masses and torn apart.

"Stay back before we shoot you!" the men yelled at Emmett, who was walking with me towards them.

"She's not going out there alone," Em rebutted.

"Yes, she is," one of the men said sternly, before cocking their gun and aiming it right at his head.

"Emmett, I'll be fine," I told him, but he still didn't move.

"Come on, babe. You can't help her if you're dead," Rose tried reasoning with him.

"They won't hurt her," Garrett added, sounding like he was trying to convince himself just as much as Emmett. "Hybrids are far too rare for him to dispose of so quickly."

"Step back, son," Eleazar said with his hand on Em's shoulder, finally getting him to slightly ease his aggressive stance.

"Someday I'm going to kill every last one of you," Emmett threatened them, before grudgingly withdrawing several steps.

I gave my vampire family a parting reassuring smile, and then followed the men out. Without Emmett and the others, I felt vulnerable, but I refused to be scared. Rose was right, there was no reason to think Mr. Arostali wanted me dead, and I absolutely had to question him about Edward.

I was led to a much smaller holding cell, where the electric buzz of the cell bars was so loud it stung my eardrums. I waited alone for what felt like an hour, when finally Mr. Arostali graced me with his presence.

"Mrs. Masen," he greeted me facetiously.

"Marcus," I replied, mimicking his tone.

He smirked. "I'm afraid we got off on the wrong foot. I have a proposition for you…."

…


	33. Power

**Chapter 33 – Power**

The very idea that someone as despicable as Marcus Arostali, would want to make me any kind of proposition, was laughable. He bought vampires. _He bought me_. I didn't come to the realization that I was owned by someone until that very moment. The shock of my new reality was wearing off, and I was left with so much anger. I finally understood what real bloodlust was. I wanted Arostali dead, and I wanted to be the one to kill him.

"I've never been one to make deals with the devil," I told him.

His pompous smirk widened. "This wouldn't be our first business arrangement, now would it? We have already struck a deal in the past; now, since the circumstances have changed, I would like to amend that deal."

"I'm your prisoner here, so how the hell do I have anything left to offer you? And unless you're willing to give me and my friends our freedoms, you have nothing I want, therefore we have absolutely nothing to discuss."

"Oh, but I'm here to offer you so much more than just your freedom," he replied unexpectedly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "There is nothing greater than freedom."

"Ms. Swan, what I'm here to present to you, is the greatest thing in the entire world."

"Love? You're bringing me Edward?" I asked sarcastically, knowing damn well he had no intention of reuniting me with my mate.

"Love isn't real. It can be manipulated and molded to benefit one's own self desires. No, what I have to offer you is vastly greater than any flippant emotion could ever give you."

"There is nothing greater than love," I tried arguing, but he ignored me.

"Power, Ms. Swan. Power, is the single greatest thing on this planet. With enough power, you can do anything. You can _make_ people love you, if that's what you so wish. Power can move mountains."

"You can't make someone love you," I disagreed. "They either do, and it's genuine, or it's fake."

He smirked at me again. "Oh, dear sweet child, you have so much to learn. I fear the truth will destroy you… or perhaps make you stronger than you ever thought possible. I suppose only time will tell. I hope she is right about you, otherwise this will be a disaster."

"You hope _who_ is right about me?" I questioned, realizing that Arostali wasn't working alone. When he subtly shook his head, making it clear that was a question he wouldn't answer, I became frustrated. "Whatever. Can you just make your point so I can get back to my family?"

"I need your help," he said bluntly. "Hybrids are rare; we have been trying to gain access to Daemon for quite some time now, but your father was never willing to part with him. Now that your own lineage has been uncovered, I think you will do just fine, if not better, than Daemon ever could."

"His name is _Edward_ ," I snapped.

He scrunched his nose. " _Edward_ just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?"

"Just tell me what the hell you want already!"

"A supernatural revolution," he admitted. "The humans have been in power for far too long. We need the vampires to use their strength to gain control of the world once again, and then we will make them our slaves."

I scrunched my brows. "That makes zero sense. You want vampires to take over, but then make them your slaves? Aren't you human?"

"Taking over the world, even from an inferior species such as humans, will result in massive loss of life. I'd rather those losses come from vampires. To answer your question - yes, unfortunately I am currently only human, but that will soon be remedied. We now have the ability to create a new species of superhumans, and I will be one of the first few to undergo the transition. When I.H.s take over, everyone else will bend to our will."

"I.H.s?" I asked confused.

"Immortal Humans," he clarified. "We will rule over humans and vampires alike. All of the world's species will kneel before us."

I scratched my head as I considered it. "So… you're like, super crazy, huh? I only thought your were a despicable jerk, but it turns out you're also entirely delusional. That is kind of pitiful actually."

"What you call delusional, I call visionary. I admit, it's been over three hundred years in the making, so one needs to be slightly crazy to continue to pursue a seemingly impossible task. Generation after generation, my ancestors have been working on this goal, but I'm the one who will reap the benefits. The serum is ready, and in the next few weeks, it will begin to be administered to those worthy."

"Your ancestors? Are you a Higginbotham?"

He smiled. "Smart girl. My great grandmother was Irina Higginbotham, sister of Kate Higginbotham – the woman who birthed the first hybrid. The first hybrid, who would later birth _you_. That makes us family, right? So, dear cousin, will you help me? Will you help our family by fulfilling our destiny to rule the world?"

"How about you just tell me exactly what you have in mind before I make any decisions?" I suggested. There was no way in hell I'd ever go along with any type of ridiculous world domination scheme, _not that I even believed such a thing was possible_ , but I figured it was best to know their plan anyway.

"Every twenty-five years, the tournament committee holds a special event, called The Apex 25," he explained. "To put it simply, it's like the Olympics of monster fighting. It is the ultimate battle of the great houses. Just about every major owner attends, and each can enter up to five fighters. They are all put into various categories, and are assessed for strength and lethality. The top twenty-five are then released into a giant arena, and they fight each other for twenty-five minutes."

"Twenty-five minutes? I scoffed.

"Twenty-five intense minutes, of the twenty-five most brutal creatures on this planet. It's actually a long battle for beasts such as these. The winner is the owner whose monsters have the most kills, and that owner gets the ultimate prize of the Apex 25 Golden Chalice. Along with the trophy comes one hundred million dollars, as well as the prestigious position of Committee Chairman for the next twenty five years. This quarter century event is happening in two months' time. You will be one of my five entries, along with The Terminator, Vixen, Guerrera, and The Yankee. We must think of a fun name for you, as well."

"And just why would you enter me in this fight?" I asked a little dumbfounded. "I'm completely inexperienced. Seems like a stupid move on your part."

"I _need_ you in that arena. Your unique heartbeat and human scent would confuse any unknown monsters that our opposing houses may enter, but more importantly, I know three of the four other vampires I'm entering would absolutely die for you. It's that attitude that we need."

"I don't even know who that other vampire is. You said something about Gurra?"

"Guerrera," he corrected me. "She is one of my best fighters. I'm sure you will become acquainted with her down in the caves real soon."

"So, let's say we somehow win this tournament. How is that going to help you take over the world?"

"This is the biggest supernatural event to happen in a quarter century. Not only do the majority of owners participate, but world leaders will also be in attendance. The President of the United Sates will be there, as well as many monarchs from around the globe. Once you subdue your opponents, you will turn your attack on the masses."

"How? There is an electrified cage around every arena."

"I will have someone turn off the power. Plus, my team will be secretly bringing in more vampires, and release them into the stadium to aid your massacre."

I huffed. "Okay, so please explain to me why you need my help for all of this? If you plan on releasing vampires into the stadium, and you have the ability to turn off the electrical cage, I'm sure all the creatures there will create plenty of carnage without me."

"Do you think the vampires would do _my_ biding? No. They would kill many, of course, but their ultimate goal would be escaping. You are not vampire nor human, so only you can gain their trust, and once you do, you must control them. Tell them whatever you would like to get them to focus their attack on the owners and world leaders."

"Then what?"

"Then we move on to the rest of the world. Once we have the power, we will recapture the vampires, and make sure they are put away forever. The last thing we want is to let them get into a position where they can challenge our rule."

I nodded understandingly. "So, after I get the vampires to help you take over, what happens to me?"

"As a natural hybrid, you will be one of the highest ranked amongst our rulers. We will create armies of elite I.H. forces. They will have I.H. families, and we will become the best society of supreme beings this planet has ever seen."

"That all sounds… _utopic_ , and all, but before I agree to any of it, I insist on being reunited with my mate. He is a hybrid as well, even more-so actually, since I'm only a quarter vampire. And he is a skilled fighter and would be much more suited for the whole world domination thing. Why are you not propositioning him with this?"

He pretended to consider it. "Daemon is a little hardheaded and strong-willed. I guess you could say that he doesn't work well with others."

"You did proposition him with this, and he refused you," I concluded slowly.

"He was born into a vampire family, and unwilling to turn against them. He is incapable of seeing the bigger picture."

"Where is he?" I seethed.

"He's not here, so don't even try to think of any grand ideas of breaking him free. He is in my partner's facility, thousands of miles from here."

"Where. Is. He?" I pressed angrily.

"As I said. Not here." He stood and grabbed what looked like a TV remote, before turning on the screen that I just noticed behind him. "He is somewhere far from here, but I do have a live feed of him that I enjoy watching from time to time."

He pressed a button, and what came onto the screen was excruciatingly heart-wrenching. It was a tall, but narrow, tank of water, like the kind Houdini would lock himself in, and inside was an unconscious Edward. Only dressed in a pair of ripped pants, he was floating vertically, upside down, with his eyes closed, and his body completely still. If I didn't know any better, I would have honestly thought he was dead. Even through the grainy video and poor lighting of the room he was in, I could see that his skin had turned an unnatural shade of purplish blue, and every inch of him that was visible was covered in bulging veins.

Seeing him like that was the single most painful thing I had ever experienced, but I had to keep my composure. Rosalie was right when she said drowning couldn't kill him. Edward was not dead, but I was going to make damn sure everyone responsible for his suffering soon would be.

I glared at Arostali in a way that he had to have known I wanted to rip him apart, and then I stepped forward, and ever so slowly, lifted my hands.

"Don't touch the bars, they're electrified," he warned me.

My deathly glare on him did not falter as I defiantly grabbed a hold of the bars with both hands. If they burned me, I didn't feel it. All I felt was hate.

"We both know I'm going to kill you someday," I told him evenly.

For a moment, I could see real fear in his eyes, but then he smiled.

"I'm willing to die for the cause, but I really don't think it will get that far. Once the I.H.s take over, and you find your place amongst the leaders, you'll understand why this was necessary."

"And if I don't help you?" I challenged him.

"Then there is absolutely no hope of _him_ ever getting out of there," he replied while pointing at the screen. "Want lover boy dry? Do what I'm asking of you, and become a leader of the new world. Then you can do whatever the hell you want."

"I'll still want to kill you," I said menacingly.

"I'll take my chances, dear cousin. You have two months; I suggest you start fight training, and work on convincing the vampires to follow you, otherwise you will never see Daemon again."

To emphasize his threat, he turned off the screen, and then walked out of the room.

My shock, grief, and anger forced me to hold on to the bars for another few long moments, before finally ripping them off, and losing a few layers of burned skin in doing so. It wasn't until I was escorted by the armed guards back to the vampire tunnels that I finally collapsed from the pain – I only wished it was the pain from my hands.

"Bella!" I heard my name being called, but I couldn't even focus on it. Just knowing Edward was being tortured in that way was gutting, and I was having a hard time just catching my breath because of it.

Eventually, my vampire family must have gotten me to my room, and after crying myself to sleep, I woke up sometime later to my hands bandaged, and four very concerned faces.

"Hey there," Rose said gently. "How are you feeling?"

I forced myself to sit up, and I removed the bandages to expose my rapidly healing palms. I then took a deep settling breath, before looking up at Rose. Telling her about her little brother's torture was one of the hardest things I ever had to do . I cried as I spoke, and if Rose was capable of crying, I know she would have cried with me, but Emmett just became angry.

"Where are you going?" Rose asked him.

"Didn't you just hear what she said? They're _torturing_ him, Rosalie! I'm not going to allow it for a moment longer."

"There is no way out of here," Eleazar told him despondently.

"Yes, there is," I interjected evenly, while wiping the moisture from my face. I had cried all the tears I was capable of, now I just wanted revenge. "The Apex 25."

After telling them Arostali's plan, I concluded it by saying – "We need to agree to do it, that way we can kill them all and get Edward back."

"Hell yeah!" Emmett agreed enthusiastically, but then he thought better of it. "Wait, but if we do what Arostali wants, we will all end up imprisoned. I mean, that is what you just said their plan is, right? For all vampires to be imprisoned indefinitely?"

"No worse off than we are now," Garrett mumbled. "I'm in. Whatever your plan is, I'll do it. Even if we just end up right back down here when it's all over. At least it will be an interesting fight and we'll get to kill some of those bastards along the way."

"Killing innocent people won't solve anything," Eleazar tried reasoning.

"If they're in that stadium, they're not innocent," Rose retorted bitterly.

"But the carnage will spill out of the arena, and into the cities all over the country," El argued. "It's only a matter of time until it spreads and they take over the entire world. What will happen to the human population then? We can't allow this."

"Why not?" Garrett questioned. "This isn't the first time a species has fought for dominance. Vampires ruled for a while, then the humans took back over. Maybe it's time for a new sub-species to emerge."

"No," I said emotionlessly. "The I.H.s will not become the new dominant species. Nothing will change for humans, except for the deaths of everyone in that stadium. If the president is amongst those killed, the vice president will take over. There are other monarchs to replace the ones that will die as well. If we kill all the owners, and everyone involved in the tournaments, this will all end."

"But then what will happen to the non-human creatures that are left?" Eleazar questioned.

"We set them free, and they go back into the shadows." I shrugged. "Maybe we turn the creature hunters into creature police, and they only imprison the ones that commit some kind of offense."

"Like, an offense against other creatures, or against humans?" Emmett questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe make laws for them or something. We have time to figure out all that later. Right now, I need you guys to teach me to fight."

The four vampires looked at each other, and then they each turned back to me and seemed to come to agreement.

"Okay, let's get started."


	34. Mental Battles

**Chapter 34 – Mental Battles**

"Again!" I demanded after peeling myself off the training ring floor.

I readied myself for the next attack, but like the ten times before, I was quickly overpowered.

"Ugh!" I screeched out of frustration.

"Maybe you should go a little easier on her," Eleazar suggested.

"You're kidding, right?" Rose scoffed. "Do you think anyone is going to go easy on her in the Apex ring? Come on, Bella. Get your ass up!"

I forced my battered body off the floor, and readied myself yet again.

When Rose landed another blow on me, she paused. "I can go easier like Em said," she offered.

I wiped the blood off my lip and replied, "No way in hell."

We trained for hours without rest, and then something miraculous happened – I began to see a pattern in Rose's moves. With a duck at just the right time, I was able to gain the upper hand, and I struck her hard, sending her flying across the arena.

Rose was shocked, as was everyone watching, but I just felt guilty.

"I'm sorry. I don't know how I did that."

"Don't be sorry," she said while getting up. "That was awesome! Let's do it again."

When Rose's hair became too matted for her liking, Garrett offered to take over my training. Of course, because of his grand-parental ties to me, he refused to hit me, so I fired him. Emmett, on the other hand, was far too excited to throw me around a little.

"Is that really the best you got?" he mocked me.

Unlike Rosalie, there was seemingly no pattern to Emmett's fighting style. His moves were vicious and animalistic. He fought on instinct, and damn was he powerful. Even with my superhuman super-strength, I was no match for him. But then Garrett told me the one thing that would change my entire fighting capability.

"Bella, stop thinking!" he encouraged me.

"What?" I asked confused, and the moment I turned to look at him, Emmett hit me hard again, sending me across the floor and right to where Garrett was standing.

"Turn your mind off," Garett said in a rush. "You have more abilities than you know; you're just overthinking this."

Emmett grabbed my foot, and flung me across the ring yet again.

"Clear. Your. Mind!" Garrett insisted, so despite being attacked by the grizzly bear of vampires, I somehow forced myself to follow Garrett's advice. I squeezed my eyes shut, and turned off all my thoughts. I even managed to forget the phantom wet sensation I was still constantly swimming through, and when Em lunged for me again, I shocked myself by evading him. He came at me again, and again, but I was able to slip past him each time. Regardless of his sporadic moves, it was like I could almost sense his actions before he made them, and after a while, Em grew frustrated.

"Stop dancing with me, and fight, dammit!"

"But I seem to be better at ducking," I said, feeling slightly silly by the entire thing.

"How the hell are you even doing that?"

"I have no idea," I said honestly.

"She has a gift for evasion," Garrett explained.

"She does?" Em asked, abruptly shifting his tone from aggression to curiosity.

"I do," I said, but surprised myself by making it sound more like an answer than a question.

"I have a gift as well, and that gift is sensing gifts in others," Garrett stated. "And you have had this gift of yours your entire life, haven't you?"

Now that he mentioned it, I definitely had a history of out-maneuvering my opponents when it came to Hide-and-Seek as a child. I was never caught. _Never_. And when I was being stalked by the human-traffickers in San Diego, I managed to keep just out of their reach. My mind even drifted to the time I narrowly avoided gunfire when the creature-hunters were shooting at us. I did have a gift for evasion, which was as cool as it was disappointing.

"It doesn't help me fight though," I mumbled.

"No, but it will keep you alive," Garrett assured me.

"Hey, any gift is cooler than no gift," Emmett said supportively. "I only have my brute strength, which I suppose is awesome, but no more awesome than evasion."

I giggled at his attempt to be humble. "Come on, let's keep training."

Emmett and I _"danced"_ for a couple more hours, but since clearing my mind and allowing my natural instinct for evasion take over, we were basically at an impasse. He couldn't catch me, and I certainly couldn't land any blows on him, so we accomplished nothing, and Em decided he was bored.

"I will work with you," a Latina woman offered. She spoke with a heavy accent, and she was probably one of smallest vampires in the facility. I didn't know her, and neither did my family members. Apparently, this woman mainly kept to herself until that very moment.

"Um… thank you," I said awkwardly, not knowing how else to respond. I didn't really want to train with a stranger, especially one so petite that I was worried about hurting her, but I didn't know how to graciously decline either.

"Relax, chiquita, I'm not going to hurt you, and you're not going to hurt me," she assured me. "Your trainers so far, although well intentioned, have all neglected to teach you the fundamentals of fighting. Your gift is very useful, but it's mainly a defensive mechanism. I can teach you how to turn it into an offensive one as well."

"You can?"

"Yes, of course. Fighting is instinctual, except when it's not. Then it needs to be taught. Once you know the fundamentals, it will become as if it was instinctual. Yes?"

I nodded. "I'm Bella, by the way."

"Carmen," she replied. "Now let's get started."

By "fundamentals", Carmen truly meant _fundamentals_. She showed me how to stand so my weight was evenly distributed, making my balance better. She showed me the proper way to throw a punch, making each blow as productive as possible. She even showed me where to drive my power from.

"It comes from your gut, not your muscles," she explained.

And it did make me feel more powerful. Those basic skills were necessary for the foundation of fighting, and I was grateful for them. She also taught me to use my natural evasion gift to avoid being struck, but then to strike my opponent as they were recovering from their missed blow on me.

I wasn't sure how long her lessons went on for, but I was acutely aware of the moment my strength and newfound abilities began to wane. Most notably, was the lack of moisture I was suddenly feeling. It was the weakest, and driest, I had felt since arriving there. The lack of that wetness terrified me, because it was the wet feeling that made me still feel connected to Edward.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Emmett asked me when I had to sit down and catch my breath. He, and the others, hadn't been watching the entire time I trained with Carmen, but they were back just in time to see me lose steam - which was slightly embarrassing.

"She needs to feed," Garrett assumed. "It's been over a week since she killed those men."

"It has?" I asked surprised. I had been concentrating so much on learning to fight, that I completely lost track of time. I hadn't even slept since arriving, which meant it was by far the longest stretch of consciousness I had ever experienced. "How am I still functioning?"

"You drank human blood straight from the vein," Garrett explained. "A lot of it, actually. That is the most vampiric you can possibly be. You only require very little sleep in that state; however, due to all the strenuous exercise you have been indulging in, it's starting to leave your system now. It's time to rest and rejuvenate."

I did recall Edward rarely sleeping in the beginning of our journey, so I suppose it made sense that I would react similarly with my vampire side awakened, but it was still surprising.

"So after I… _feed_ ," I gulped, "I will feel energized again?"

"You need to rest too. Feed, and then rest, and you should be good for another several days," Garrett figured. "Now, donated blood in bags, like we are fed here, doesn't offer the same nutrition as fresh blood, so you won't feel as good as you did after draining those men, but it will be close enough. Come, I will escort you to the feeding station."

"I'm about ready to feed again too, so I'll come with you guys," Emmett announced.

"We just fed yesterday," Rose said incredulously.

"I'm a growing boy. Don't try to curb my appetite, woman!" Em growled playfully.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll go too, but only to make sure you don't kill the staff again. They withheld everyone's feedings for a week the last time you killed everyone there."

"Whatever. It's not like anyone died," he countered.

"Um, except for the people you killed," she pointed out.

"Human pawns of Arostali's, sure, but not anyone that matters."

Rose couldn't seem to roll her eyes big enough.

"Well, if you are both going, I'll just let you escort her," Garrett said, before going off to wherever he usually went off to.

I began following Em and Rose to the feeding station, but stopped to turn back to Carmen, who was hanging back. "Would you like to join us?" I offered.

"No, gracias. It's best if we aren't seen together by the guards."

"Why not?"

"If Arostali thinks we are too friendly, he may not trust me to spy on you anymore."

"Spy on me?"

"Sí. He wants to make sure you are going along with his plan, and not diverting in a way to betray him. Of course, he does not wish for me to tell you this, but I no feel right about keeping it from you."

"Wait, you're Guerrera, aren't you?" I asked, realizing that she was probably the fifth member of our Apex crew.

She nodded. "He is holding my mate hostage in order to get me to do his bidding, but I am beginning to think the best way to free her is to help you."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I appreciate your honesty. Hopefully we can work together to free all our loved ones."

"Go feed, and I will be here when you return," she said with a warm smile.

I nodded, and then hurried to catch up with Emmett and Rosalie.

"Um, how did you manage to kill the entire feeding station staff if they're all behind electrified bars?" I mumbled as we entered the room. It basically looked like what I would assume a traditional bank would look like in the worst neighborhood in the world. There were tellers behind electrified bars, and the poor men looked absolutely terrified as Emmett entered the room.

"It's really not hard to kill these boogers," Em replied casually, making no attempt to speak quietly so the men couldn't hear. "I usually just reach through the bars when they hand me my blood pouch, pull their arm out, and drain them dry. Then, when the others try pulling him back, I grab them too. Simple."

I glanced at the teller, and couldn't help but giggle. He was holding out Emmett's pouch with a pair of super long tongs.

Em wasn't detoured. He smirked, then grabbed the pouch, and the end of the tongs, in one quick motion. However, when he tried to pull the man towards him by pulling on the tongs, the man dropped them and immediately backed up.

"Don't you dare start pouting, you big baby!" Rosalie scolded Em when she noticed the sincerely disappointed expression on his face. "You can't just keep killing people all the time. How will you ever live on the outside again?"

"These aren't people!" Em growled. "They're brainless minions. I'm doing the world a favor by killing them."

"They have enough brains to learn from your previous attacks," I pointed out.

"Whatever," he grumbled, before ripping open his pouch with his teeth, and sucking it dry.

Rosalie shook her head at him, and then looked back at me, and motioned for me to go next.

Not exactly sure what to expect, I took a step towards the teller, and awkwardly said, "Um… hi. I guess I'm hungry."

"Are you the hybrid?" the man questioned.

"Apparently," I replied with a nervous giggle. I knew I had drained a few men, but I did it during a blackout, and I didn't even realize it had happened until I was told about it. Knowing I was about to be given blood to consume was definitely nerve-wracking, and I wondered if I could even get through drinking it.

The man whispered something in the other teller's ear, and when that teller responded, he nodded, and then disappeared out the back door. He returned a moment later with a Tupperware type of plastic container, and then slid it through the bars towards me.

"Um, what's this?" I questioned. I opened the lid, and grimaced. "I'm not eating that," I said, before closing the lid and shoving it back through the bars.

"What was it?" Rose asked before sniffing the air. "Oh."

"A raw pig foot," I said disgusted, despite her already identifying it through her super sense of smell.

"That is unacceptable," she told the teller angrily. "Give her a pouch!"

"We have our orders," the man replied. "We can only feed the hybrid the prepared boxes of whatever our boss wants her to eat."

Rosalie huffed. "Fine, give me mine," she demanded.

The moment they handed it to her, she handed it directly to me. "I'm not even thirsty," she said with her tongue out to the man. The man responded by immediately sounding some kind of deafeningly loud alarm.

I covered my ears, but all the vampires in the room fell to the ground and began withering in pain.

"Okay, okay, have it back!" I screamed over the noise. Once I shoved the pouch back through the bars, the alarm turned off, and the vampires were able to recover themselves.

"What the hell was that?" I asked as I helped a slightly delirious Rosalie off the ground.

"It's such a high pitched sound that our sensitive super hearing can't take it," she explained.

"I'm going to kill you next, motherfucker!" Emmett threatened the man who sounded the alarm.

"Pouches must be consumed in this room where we can watch you, and no sharing with the hybrid," the man said evenly.

"Just give me back my pouch," Rose screeched at him.

"You just said you weren't thirsty," he countered.

"Well, now I am. Those damn alarms take a lot out of us."

"Fine," he replied, and handed her the pouch once more, but sneered as he clearly kept his hand on the alarm button as he did so.

Rosalie's deathly glare never left the man as she opened her pouch, and drank it down. When she was finished, she flipped him off, before walking out of the room. It seemed I wasn't going to eat anything, since I refused to eat a raw pig foot, so I hungrily followed her out.

We headed back towards the training ring, when suddenly Rose paused her stride, reached for my face, and then shockingly planted her mouth to mine.

I froze, not knowing what the hell was happening, but when her lips began moving against mine, and her tongue pushed its way into my mouth, I quickly understood. A rush of cool liquid washed right down my throat, and regardless of the unorthodox way it was being delivered, I immediately felt a surge of strength as the blood entered my system.

But best of all, with the return of my vampire senses, came the return of the wet feeling I had grown accustomed to. That sensation meant that despite Edward's tortured state, he was still there, still hanging on and waiting for me to come rescue him. With our situation the way that it was, there currently wasn't a more significant sensation in the universe to me.

When the _transfer_ was complete, she pulled back and casually wiped her lips as if there was nothing strange about her action.

"That was the hottest thing I've ever seen," Emmett mumbled, having a hard time picking his jaw up off the floor. "Can you do that again, but next time in the chamber, with both of your clothes off?"

Rosalie scowled at him, then shoved him back. "Don't be an idiot! Even if I was attracted to Bella in that way, she is my brother's mate, in _every_ meaning of the word. My brother, who unlike _you_ , has complete function of his… _organs_." She quivered with disturbance. "I do not even want to think about the places she's had her mouth."

"It's best that you keep your mind far from there," I confirmed.

"See! Eww," she whined.

"But thank you for your sacrifice. I feel much better now."

"How much blood could you have stored in your cheeks, woman?" Emmett asked her astonished.

"None. I just have a talented esophagus."

"Now I'm the one grossed out. Ugh!" Em moaned. "I thought I got to witness something sexy, and really you were just spitting in her mouth like a mama bird feeding her chick. Bella, I'm sorry that my mate forced her barf down your throat."

"Well, if there was a better way of doing it, I'm sure she would have thought of one. I appreciate it just the same. Thank you, Rosalie," I said sincerely.

The idea of drinking regurgitated blood from Rosalie's mouth was utterly disgusting, but it honestly wasn't so bad, and I was grateful. However, with a full stomach, I was definitely feeling like I needed to rest.

I retreated back to my personal chamber, and it wasn't long before I felt sleep overtaking me, and that sleep was accompanied by so many visions. Some were pleasant, but most were disturbing, and all of them were set to the tune of Edward's humming, which was beyond confusing.

When I felt something cool on my neck, I woke with a gasp.

"Shh, everything is okay," I heard the most beautiful voice murmur.

My freshly nourished vampire cells sharpened my sight infinitely, but I still had to rub my eyes to make sure they weren't playing tricks on me.

"Edward?" I whispered, still unsure if I should believe it. He was just sitting next to me, caressing my face as if it was any other morning we had spent together.

"Your hair is back to dark," he said with a smile. "I like it."

I wanted to smile back at him, but I was just too confused. "You're here?"

His smile faded. "No."

My heart jumped, and my stomach twisted into one large painful knot. "I'm dreaming?"

He sighed. "No."

"I'm not dreaming?" I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to allow my mind to reveal what it already knew. It wasn't a dream, and he wasn't really there… but he was still there. I understood then that it was more than a hallucination, it was our cerebral connection. Somehow, someway, his conscience was in mine, and even though we were thousands of miles apart, we were together, and we were communicating. The moment I came to that realization, I looked back up at him, and gasped again.

"You're soaked," I said, feeling like my heart was being torn into a million little pieces. The image of him sitting next to me was so beautiful and perfect a moment ago, but he was now dripping wet, as if he just came in from a torrential downpour. I reached for him, and he wrapped his arms around me so tightly that I could have sworn he was physically there.

I cried as we held each other, and I never wanted to let him go, but after a couple minutes, he pulled back, leaving me feeling cold and even wetter than ever before. My clothes and hair were legitimately soaked from being in contact with his saturated body, which then prompted him to grab the blanket besides us to dry me with.

"Remember when I used to hate water?" he asked with a slightly humorous undertone. "Well, I hate it even more now."

Another tear rolled over my cheek, but I quickly wiped it away. I needed to be strong for him.

"I'm going to get you out of there," I said as strongly as I was capable of. "I promise you, I'm going to get you out, and then we are going to make those monsters pay for it. They're going to wish they never crossed our paths. I promise…"

"Shhh," he cooed. "We don't have a lot of time." He looked around the room as if he was searching for something, or perhaps, _someone_.

"What is it?" I asked concerned, also looking around the room but seeing nothing.

"Listen to me," he said gently, yet intensely. "Bella, I know what you're planning. We are so connected that I can see right into your mind… So you have to come up with a new plan."

"What?" I asked confused.

"Do you remember what Rosalie said about how she beat Emmett in that first match?"

I nodded. "The mind controlling vampire's venom."

"Chelsea," he confirmed. "The people who have me have her. She can do more than control minds, Bella. She can search inside a mind and learn everything someone has ever known. Every thought, every feeling. If I know something, she will too."

"I don't understand. Why would she help them?"

"I don't know. All I know for sure is that because of my connection to you, she has access to your mind as well…" He let his words trail off as he looked at something over my shoulder. "She's here now."

"What?" I looked behind me, and my eyes grew large. There, like a ghostly shadow in the back corner of the room, stood a terrifying dark haired woman. She wasn't there a minute ago, but she sure as hell was there now. She was mostly still, except for the subtle motion of her hair, that seemed to be blowing in some sort of phantom breeze.

"Don't let her touch you," Edward warned me gravely. "If she does, she will have access to your mind even after we disconnect."

I looked back at her again, and this time she was closer. It was truly like the entities from horror films, and I felt my heart speed faster than ever before.

"Bella," Edward said, drawing my attention back to him. "Come up with a new plan. Get out, and then go away somewhere. Somewhere I don't know of. Take my family with you. They will protect you, but don't go to Brazil. Nowhere I know of," he said in a panicked rush.

I glanced behind me again, and she was three steps closer. We were running out of time, but I needed Edward to know that he wasn't alone.

"After I free you, _we_ can go somewhere they will never find us."

"No!" he shouted at me unexpectedly. The moisture from his body was now dripping off of him as if he was standing under a running faucet. The more intense he spoke, the harder the water would run. "You don't understand. You can't free me! I'll never recover from what they're about to do."

"You just need to hold on!" I cried. "I'm coming. I just need a little more time."

"Bella, my life is ending _tonight_ ," he said, suddenly soft. "There isn't anything you can do. I just… I needed to tell you… I needed to tell you that I'm sorry. That I wish I could go back and force you to return to your bed that night you found me in the dungeon. I should have sent you home after we escaped. I should have done so many things differently."

"Edward," I breathed.

"We've already said goodbye once, I'm not going to do it again. Just promise me you won't come after me, Bella. You didn't let me go before, you _must_ do it now. Let me go. There's nothing more you can do for me… nothing except to promise me. Please, Bella."

"I can't," I said painfully.

"You must!" he shouted.

I glanced behind me once more, and my heart leapt into my throat. The woman was right behind me now, and her deathly stare was petrifying. She seemed to be moving in slow motion, but it was still too fast.

"Edward!" I cried again as he began moving away from me.

"Bella, you have to let go! You have to shut the door between our minds, and let me fade away. It's the only way you'll ever be free. Close the door, let me go, and then go somewhere I know nothing about. Please, Bella!"

"I…" Without glancing back, I could see the woman's hand raising towards me in my peripheral vision. Even if I was willing to close that cerebral connection between us, I honestly had no idea how to do so. He was the one who navigated through minds, not me. "Edward!" I shrieked.

Without warning, Edward jumped at the woman, and the two began the most vicious death match I had ever witnessed. She was absolutely lethal, and Edward was clearly weaker than I had ever seen him before.

"Bella, you must close it!" he screamed at me. The woman wasn't moving in slow motion anymore; she was now trying like hell to get to me, and Edward was desperately holding her back with everything he had inside of him. "Please!" he begged one more time, but then, in a blur of motion, she somehow got out of his grasp, and got him into hers. The next sound I heard would haunt me for the rest of my days - a snap, followed by Edward's eyes going blank, and his entire body falling limp.

The woman didn't even give me a moment to process what just happened before she lunged for me. I didn't have time to scream, and I didn't want to. At that point, death was welcomed, if only I could be so lucky.

I squeezed my eyes shut in anticipation of her attack, but when I felt my arm jerk, I reflexively opened them, only to see Rosalie sitting besides me.

"Hey," she said softly. "What's going on? We all heard you screaming," she said concerned.

I sat up and looked around the room, but thankfully there was no scary woman, and no Edward's lifeless body.

"I'm sorry, I must have been dreaming," I mumbled through my trembling.

"Edward used to have nightmares too," she said supportively, but then she looked at me strangely. "Why are you all wet?"

My hand shot to my hair, and to my horror, it was soaking wet – like, really wet, not just a phantom sensation like I had been experiencing.

Suddenly I felt like I couldn't breathe. "Edward. He.. he… Something… ha-happened…"

…


	35. Reunions

**Chapter 35 – Reunions**

"Bella, we've already been over this, Edward can't die like that," Rosalie tried calming me. "We know he's suffering, and we have a plan to get him out, but until then, he is hanging in there. He will be okay once we free him, and we _will_ free him."

"This was more than drowning, she… she… she snapped his neck," I argued emotionally, having a hard time even getting the words out.

"If that's true, then the vampire cells in him will fix it. Unless they lit him on fire, his vampire cells can fix anything."

I swallowed roughly. "It's gone," I said with a broken voice. "My connection to him. The wet feeling. It's gone. The moment you woke me, it all disappeared. It wasn't a dream, Rosalie. He was here, and something horrible just happened to him."

"Listen, I never actually met Chelsea," Rose said softly. "They extracted her venom and made that serum for me in a lab, so we never had any contact, but when you take in other vampires' venom, you can feel them, their spirit, their emotions, it's why mates bite each other. I never met Chelsea, but I _feel_ like I know her. She's not evil. She wouldn't be helping them of her own free will."

I gritted my teeth. "I'm going to kill her anyway."

"Well, I hope the situation unfolds where everything becomes clear. Until then, let's go back to training. The Apex will be here soon."

"We need a different plan," I told her. "Edward connected with me to make sure I knew we needed to alter our course. I'm going to at least make sure I honor that."

"Okay, what will we do differently? Maybe we should bring in the guys and discuss everything."

"That's a good idea," I agreed.

…

Unfortunately, none of us could come up with a good solid plan with so many unknown variables to consider. So I went back to training; I couldn't waste any more time, because time was almost up, and it couldn't be up fast enough.

I became even more determination than ever before; I took everything I learned from all three of my teachers, and I began sparring vampires that I was less familiar with…. and I started actually winning.

With my new blood diet, my vampire cells were fully charged, and they were turbo-boosted by my own human blood flow and adrenaline. I felt powerful, because I was powerful. I was even strong enough to take down the biggest vampires in the facility.

"Holy shit!" Emmett said in shock from the floor of the ring. "I wasn't even going easy on you."

"That must be why they didn't want to feed her blood," Rose mused. "Like Edward, she is even stronger than vampires when on the vampire diet."

"And I'm going to make damn sure I have use of my full strength during that Apex match," I said determinedly.

"We still haven't come up with a good plan for that yet," Eleazar pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," I told him. "I'm going to kill them all, and I won't stop until I find Edward. If he isn't okay, I'll personally deliver them a fate so much worse than death."

"She's kind of scary now," I heard Rose whisper to Eleazar.

…

The Apex 25 tournament was surprisingly, and somewhat unsurprisingly, being held at the Higginbotham compound. Apparently they had one of the largest arenas in the industry, and since they were the founders of Apex 25, it was tradition that it was always held there. I personally couldn't be happier. My long lost relatives were all going to pay for what they did to my family. Not only my vampire family, but my mother as well. It was their lust for power that killed Kate, and condemned my mother to a life of hiding her true self. They would all pay.

Carmen, Emmett, Rosalie, Garrett, and I, were unloaded into the Higginbotham cells, and fitted with what felt like metal collars. I didn't even want to think what they were for, but unfortunately, I had a fairly good idea. With all the uncertainties that would surely follow, I was grateful that at least the five of us were kept together in one large cage. Of course, we still didn't have a solid plan moving forward, but it didn't matter. We would not leave that compound as prisoners. We would either get Edward and escape to find sanctuary in the great unknown, or we would be killed trying, which at that point would only be merciful.

"What if Edward isn't even here?" Emmett wondered out loud as I paced around the cage impatiently. I just wanted to get everything going; waiting was worse than torture.

"Arostali told me he was being kept by his partners. The Higginbothams are his partners. Edward is here. If he is alive, he is here," I told them confidently.

"Bella, if Eduardo is your mate, you should be able to _feel_ him if he is close," Carmen told me. "When mates bite each other, they leave a little bit of their venom in their mate's neck. A vampire's venom is its life-source, it's the biggest part of them, so they can sense it when it's close, therefore sense their mate. It is more than a spiritual connection; it's physical as well. My mate is in this building right now. I feel her as clearly as I can feel you when I reach out and physically touch you. If you can't feel your mate clearly, then he must not be here."

I bit my bottom lip as I considered what she was saying. The truth was, I didn't feel Edward, and I hadn't felt him since that vision I had of him dying. That thought terrified me, but there was one point that made me feel slightly better…

"When I bit Edward before, my venom was dormant. My mark on him always healed and disappeared, so it would make sense that I can't still feel him the same way you can feel your mate."

"The hybrids' physical makeup is different than ours," Garrett added. "They will feel things and experience everything in a way we can't even comprehend."

"Carmen, if your mate is here, we will make sure she is freed as well," I told her without a shadow of a doubt. "All the prisoners here will be freed, and then we will split up and free all the others locked in the compounds around the world."

"I have faith in you," Carmen said with a nod.

As the hours ticked by, more and more creatures were being loaded into the neighboring cages. Each different species had its own cage, but they were all in the same giant room, which meant the smell was absolutely rancid.

"They do this to dull our senses," Emmett said perturbed, as the previously empty cage across from us was being loaded with a particularly potent bunch. "They want us to go nose-blind, so the fight lasts longer. Shows how stupid they are though; a vampire's sense of smell is far less important than our hearing and sight."

The large doors to the room we were in opened again, and another stinky group was being escorted in and locked into the cage next to us. This group, however, was a stink of the best kind.

"Well, surprise, surprise," Rosalie said, recognizing the smell first.

"Jacob!" I shouted, a little too loudly, which grabbed the attention of all of the monsters in the room.

"Bella?" he asked perplexed. "What the hell? Are you a vampire now?"

"Eh," I shrugged. "Long story."

"She's a hybrid like Edward," Emmett blabbed. "Like a real natural one. Her gramps is this vampire, Garrett. Crazy, huh?"

"Well, I always thought you smelled different," Jacob shrugged. "Sucks you wound up in here though."

"It's okay. It's actually going to work out for the best once we kill all the owners and free everyone," I told him casually. "Hey, did you ever find your imprint?"

"Yeah! Lee, come here," he called behind him. A pretty dark-haired woman stepped forward, but she kept her distance untrustingly. "Babe, there are bars between us, it's not like we can attack each other right now."

"Vampires are our enemies," she stated.

"Not these ones. I told you about these guys, remember?"

"They are our enemies now," she disagreed. "Only _one_ house can be victorious. I'm sorry, but we will have to kill them."

"Oh yeah, I guess that kind of sucks," Jake agreed.

"We don't have to kill each other," I told them. "We just have to make the owners think we are, so they can turn off the power to the arena, and let us escape to kill everyone."

We immediately went into planning mode, and with the shifters on board, I was even more confident than ever before. We were going to prevail; I didn't have a doubt.

I didn't have doubt, that is, until a certain someone walked through those doors…

"She's here!" Carmen said eagerly.

"Who?" Emmett and I asked at the same time.

"My mate," Carmen replied with quiet excitement.

We watched as a singular guard escorted a cloaked figure to the last opened cage on the other side of us. We couldn't immediately see her face, but Rosalie recognized her scent as well, and when she said her name, we were all shocked.

"Esme," Rose whispered. She was just as surprised as the rest of us, and her tone reflected that perfectly.

Once she was locked inside, she pushed down her hood, and stepped towards us. Her face was oddly blank, but if Carmen and Rosalie could cry, they certainly would have been.

"I knew you were here!" Carmen said emotionally. She carefully reached through the bars to grasp hands with Esme, which Esme welcomed stiffly, but then turned to Rosalie.

"I must apologize to you for what happened in the ring when we were forced to fight," she said, with an almost mechanical tone.

"I tried talking to you," Rose said emotionally. "We had a plan. _Edward_ had a plan. He was posing as an owner. He would have bought you if you lost, and you could have been free with us."

"Edward? My child?" Esme questioned, showing only the smallest spark of fluctuation in her emotions.

"Yes! Well, he's not a child anymore. He's big now, and he looks so human – or, at least, he did the last time I saw him. Who knows what state he's in now. He was working on freeing all of us so we could be together again… but you wouldn't listen, and you beat me."

"I apologize," Esme replied evenly. "But I had good reason to want to win as well. The people who I'm working for want to build a better world…"

"The people you're working for?" Rosalie questioned.

"Build a better world?" I added.

Rosalie looked at me, and then turned back to Esme. "This is Edward's mate, Bella. She is a hybrid too."

"I'm happy to finally meet you," I said, temporarily forgetting her previous comment. "I only wish it was under better circumstances."

Esme looked at me, and her head eerily cocked to the side, before stretching her lips out into a forced smile. "My child must have indeed grown to be worthy of such a lovely young woman."

Her words and demeanor definitely gave me the creeps, but I chose to try to be understanding, knowing she must have been through almost a century of hell. Virtually her entire vampire life had been in tortured captivity; I could only imagine the havoc that would wreak on her psyche. Perhaps she was just socially awkward at that point.

"Um, well I'm lucky to have Edward… wherever he is," I said, hoping to not upset her by letting her know of her son's current tortured state.

"He is your mate, and you don't know where he is?" she questioned.

"Unfortunately, we were separated," I admitted. "But I hope to rectify that real soon."

"And how will you do that when you're locked in here, and he is out there?" she asked while staring at me intently.

"Esme, where have you been this entire time?" Rose asked her slowly, seemingly just as disturbed by her behavior as I was beginning to be. "I mean, I think it's awesome you found your mate in Carmen and all. Talk about a small world, right?... But you beat me in the last tournament, so I figured we would be together. Why weren't in Arostali's compound with us?"

"He took her from me," Carmen explained from behind us. She had backed up to allow us to greet Esme, but she almost seemed to be hiding now. It was all very strange. "He used her life to get me to do as he wished."

"I _chose_ to help him, Carmen," Esme disagreed. "You still fail to see the bigger picture."

"Esme, what are you talking about?" Rose questioned anxiously. "What happened to you?"

"I love my mate, but she has fallen wayward," Esme said unexpectedly. "It pains me to say that she simply can't be trusted anymore. The world is ours for the taking, and after this upcoming battle, we will finally be free."

Rosalie glanced at Carmen in confusion. It was absolutely unheard of for mates to turn on each other in that way. It just didn't happen, and it was all very confusing.

"Bella told us about the Immortal Humans taking over," Rose said slowly. "But they're planning to just enslave us immediately afterwards. Esme, you can't help them. They're going to murder millions of innocent creatures of all different species."

"Is that what the hybrid told you?" Esme asked darkly, her sinister glare then returned to me. "How dare you frighten these poor vampires with your lies. Arostali should have never trusted you in the general population at his compound. He said you had vision, but I suppose he was wrong about you."

"I suppose so," I agreed.

She sneered at me, but then turned back to Rose. "You must help us with this take-over. It will ensure a better existence for all, and as far as vampires being imprisoned again, that simply isn't true. Is this your new mate?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject. "I can smell your venom in his neck."

"Emmett," he introduced himself.

"You are exactly the type of vampire I always knew was destined for our Rosalie. You look like a smart man. A leader all these other creatures can look up to. Can I count on you to help in this mission?"

"Yeah, totally. World domination is always fun. Don't worry about a thing, I'll take care of all of these monsters. I'll just dispatch the ones that won't obey, and we will rock this shit."

"Is this a joke to you?" she asked him irritated.

"Everything is a joke to him," Rosalie answered for him. "What is it exactly that you want us to do?"

"Kill all your opponents, then turn on the crowd. It's that simple."

"And then allow them to re-imprison us?" Rose asked condescendingly.

"Of course not. Like I said, that part is untrue."

"Then how about you tell us what is true?" Rose challenged her. "What's in it for you, and what's in it for us?"

"All the humans you could possibly consume."

"I'm in!" Emmett said excitedly.

"Shut up!" Rose hissed at him.

"Vampire numbers have diminished in the recent decades, but this is our chance to live a truly free life," Esme explained. "If we work with the I.H.s as allies, we can finally have our complete independence. They have promised us Australia."

"What now?" I asked confused.

"Every vampire left in existence will be sent to the continent to live freely. The humans there will be our food source…"

"And what happens when all the humans in Australia are dead?" I asked her. "Because, it's only a matter of time. Do you think the I.H.s will welcome you back to the rest of the world?"

"Of course not. They will send us more of their humans on ships, or risk us invading them. It's in their best interest to keep us happy."

"Esme, we don't have to even kill humans to exist," Rosalie tried reasoning with her. "We never hunted humans before. My father would never allow it…"

"Your father is too soft!" Esme shouted, showing the most amount of emotions during the conversation thus far. "He doesn't see how perfect it can be. Besides, he doesn't have to consume humans. The Australian outback has plenty of wild game to consume if he so chooses to maintain his unique diet. But, don't you see? That's the beauty of this plan. Vampires can live whatever life they want in the new Vampiria."

"Vampira?" Emmett mocked.

"That will be the new name of Australia," Esme said evenly.

"Well, that's the stupidest name I've ever heard. At least name it something cool. Like… New Romania, or something."

"New Romania?" I questioned.

"Yeah, the birthplace of Vampires. You know? Transylvania?"

"Okay, but it's not like Romania isn't still a place," I told him.

"Yeah, but it probably won't be after all this. I bet the I.H.s come up with new names for everything. Stupid names, like Immortal-Ville, and… I.M.-topia."

"Emmett, can you just let the adults speak please?" Rosalie scolded him.

"Why?" he scoffed. "It's not like any of this even matters to us. We either get sent back to Arostali's caves, or we go to Australia, where, _may I point out_ , we lived happily for quite some time. We even previously discussed settling there, rather than going back to Brazil. Come to think of it, seems to me, Australia is our best choice."

"Whoever told you that the vampires can have Australia, lied," I said to Esme assuredly, but made sure Emmett heard me as well. "They're going to imprison _all_ vampires – that is, if they even allow you to live after the takeover."

Esme snarled her lip at me again, and was clearly fuming from my comment, but rather than deny my claim, she simply turned towards the cage door, and waited. The guard quickly returned and opened it for her, and she left without another word to Rosalie, or even her mate.

"Wow," Rose said after a minute of all of us just standing there in heavy silence.

"So… she's cool," Emmett joked. "And here I thought Edward's ruthlessness was taught by me. Now I see he totally inherited it from his mother. But, on a happier note, it's awesome that Carmen is now officially part of our coven since she is Edward's mom's mate. Who would have thought?"

"That was _not_ my mate," Carmen disagreed bitterly. "She was my Esme in body, but they changed her mind and her heart. I'm not sure what she is anymore."

"Chelsea must have gotten to her," Rosalie said horrified.

" _Or_ , she just believes in vampires having their own continent," Emmett offered.

"You are such an idiot!" Rose growled at him.

"What? I honestly don't see why any of this upsets you. The caves in Alaska could be worse, and living in Australia permanently isn't a bad thing by far. Either way, we aren't going to waste away in a tiny cage, like this one, for eternity, the way we were before Arostali."

"Before Arostali, we were free," I disagreed with him.

"Vampires have never been free," Garrett interjected. "Slaves to the shadows, and suppressing our true nature. That's not freedom."

"Um guys," Jacob interrupted. "I don't know who that chick was, but we don't like the sound of whatever the hell you were talking about."

I looked past him to the four other shifters in his cage, and they were all snarling and baring their humanoid fangs. So, I decided to tell them everything. The truth was, if we were going to kill all the owners, _and_ take out Arostali and his minions, we would need help.

Jacob and his family were understandably upset by both plans; he didn't like killing any humans, but they hesitantly agreed to help us in the upcoming battle. We couldn't allow the I.H.s to take over and destroy the world as we knew it. We had to stop them one way or another.

After the shifters accepted our alliance, they did a truly remarkable thing - they turned to the monsters on the other side of them, and quietly enlisted their help as well. It became like a giant game of _Telephone_. Each cage's occupants would listen to the whispers, and then convey it to the cage opposite of them, until every creature in that giant room knew the plan. I only hoped certain aspects didn't get lost in the chain the way the traditional game of _Telephone_ often did.

Seeing so many different species of creatures willing to work together, gave me a new burst of hope. We still weren't exactly sure how everything was going to play out, and opposing Esme was disheartening, but our chances of success were only increasing with every new ally we accumulated. One way or another, we would prevail.

The room was loud with excited chatter, but we all knew it wasn't going to be easy. Not everyone was guaranteed a spot in the Apex battle. Only the top twenty-five would even be allowed in the ring, so we needed to decide on the best suited for the job, and ask everyone else to throw their assessments. It was definitely a huge task to convince them all, but after some lengthy negotiations, we finally came up with an agreement.

Me, and the four vampires that accompanied me, would fight. Jacob, and his best friend, Seth, would join us. In addition to us seven, everyone agreed to let all thirteen of the werewolf entries into the match. Unfortunately for them, they were pretty unintelligent, and we would need to make some kills in order for the battle to be initially believable. Arostali wasn't about to turn off the electrical current to the ring if no one was dying in there. The werewolves would be necessary sacrifices, but they were so mindless that the didn't even comprehend the plan enough to care. The five remaining entries were a variety of lethal creatures that would be hard to trust, but we really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Luckily, everyone was united by one common goal - killing the owners. We would worry about everything else later.

One by one, each creature was taken out of the room to be assessed. Most were hopefully downplaying their abilities, but it took hours, and it was definitely nerve-wracking. When it was finally my turn, all of my family members had words of advice.

"Stay calm. Clear your mind," Garrett told me.

"Kill anyone you get your hands on," Emmett said with a wink.

"Don't let anyone intimidate you. Even human motherfuckers can sense weakness," Rose told me.

"Take notice of everything you see," Carmen advised. "You never know when something may be important."

I nodded at all of their comments, and then took a deep breath, before steeling my emotions to make sure I could handle anything they threw at me.

I had a vague idea of what to expect, since Emmett had fought in the last Apex tournament and explained everything to me, but who knew what changed in the past twenty-five years. Different committee heads, meant different ways of doing things. I was definitely nervous, but I did my best to bury those nerves as deep as they could go.

I was brought into the arena, where I couldn't help but marvel over the huge scale of the entire thing. It definitely made all the other arenas I had seen seem minuscule in comparison. And it wasn't an empty fighting ring either. There were rock walls, and boulders, and various stone structures to hide in and around. I didn't understand the point to all of it was at first, but I quickly came to the conclusion that it was simply a way to make the battles a little more interesting for the spectators.

It wasn't until the guards left me alone inside, that I noticed the group of suit-clad men sitting in the front row of the stadium seating, staring at me. I didn't need to be told they were the owners and committee members; hell, I recognized several of them just from my brief stint as an owner myself. However, there was one man in particular, that stood out.

"Dad," I whispered, my confidence faltering just slightly. My father was sitting next to Arostali, which made me angry, but when I noticed his sunken in cheekbones, and black and blue skin, I knew he wasn't there of his own free will. I then noticed a glimmer from the metal cuffs around his ankles. Charlie was every bit of a prisoner as I was, and he looked absolutely horrified. His fear, only made me that much more determined.

Arostali stood, and then turned his back to me to address the crowd. "Gentlemen, I proudly present my newest beast… The _Cigno Nera_!"

"What the fuck's that mean?" I questioned, not really intending to say that out loud, but not regretful for it either.

Arostali looked over his shoulder, and smirked at me; he may have even smirked at Charlie too, but quickly returned his attention to the men. "As for those who don't speak Italian, _Cigno Nera_ means Black Swan, which I thought was fitting for my little bird. How do you like it, Charles?" he asked my dad pompously. "No one else in this crowd can say he fathered a monster, so Charles definitely has my fascination. Some amongst us may think it's perverse what Charles has done, but as one of the founding families, the Swans must be respected, and Charles has assured me that he knew nothing of his late wife's true genetic identity before her death. He has willingly given over the spawn, so we welcome him here today."

Charlie's face was the tensest I had ever seen it. He looked like he was about to explode with anger, but he kept his mouth shut, and didn't even attempt to speak. I was sure they must have threatened him in some way to keep quiet, but his silence was still slightly disappointing.

"Can we just get on with this please," I said irritated.

"It's always cute when these creatures try to speak," Arostali said facetiously to the men. Without warning, he picked up a small remote of some-sort, and pressed a button. There was suddenly a low humming sound, which was immediately followed by a sharp electrical jolt right to the metal collar around my neck. The strength of the jolt literally brought me to my knees. It wasn't even due to the shock, which I had grown accustomed to by then, it was the sheer force of it. It had to be the single most intense physical pain I had ever experienced. Thankfully, it only lasted a few seconds.

My dad must have jumped up when my knees buckled, because when I climbed back to my feet, I could see a guard pushing him back down to his seat. The expression on his face was that of pure agony, but still, he kept his mouth shut.

To avoid another shock, I also grudgingly remained quiet as I stood there and waited for instructions. Instructions, that would not come. I was told absolutely nothing before a barrage of logs, boulders, and even arrows came flying at me in every direction. Lucky for me, my gift for evasion, and my escalated hybrid senses, kept me from being struck. As if that wasn't bad enough, then the door to the arena opened, and in came a huge two horned demon that burst into flames.

I had come a long way in my fighting since I first started training, but I still had so much to learn, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared.

"Clear your mind, Bella," I told myself, and that was exactly what I did. I had to trust in my instincts, and those instincts served me well. It all happened rather quickly, and it was pretty much a blur, but the next thing I knew, I had the demon defeated. It was hard to tell if the men were impressed, or disappointed – perhaps they were a little bit of both, but my dad was definitely a mix of relieved and flabbergasted.

The men began writing in the notebooks they each had, and I was escorted out of the arena by two armed guards.

I expected to be brought right back to the cells, but instead I was taken to an office, similar to the one my father had. The most blatant difference between this room and my father's, however, was the big vertical water tank in the back corner of the room. The big vertical water tank, that was painfully empty.

"That was quite the show," Arostali said as he breezed in the room. He was escorted by a team of armed men, but he dismissed them, and kept only that little remote.

"Do you honestly think you could push that button faster than I could snap your neck?" I asked darkly.

He smiled. "Of course not, but we are family, and family protects each other. Did you see your father out there?"

"Is that your attempt to threaten me?" I asked with a humorless laugh. "You think I won't attack you because you have my father? My father, who I pretty much hate at this point. Sorry, not even a threat against my father's life will stop me from killing you."

"See, he isn't too happy about being here, and he is really pissed that you're in this tournament," Arostali continued, acting as if I hadn't even spoken. "Although, I am sure he's happy to be out of that prison he's been in for the past several weeks. That place is truly horrific. Only the worst of the worst human offenders go there." He paused to sigh dramatically. "That will teach him to betray us. Twenty more years in there should be long enough for him to learn his lesson, right? That is, if he can survive that long. Most don't. You know, you two are more alike than you could possibly know. He couldn't keep his mouth shut either, which is why we sewed his lips together. That was fun to watch."

I could feel a rush of heat devour my skin, as every muscle in my body tensed with anger from his words. As much as I hated my father for everything he did, he was still my father, and despite it all, I didn't want him to suffer. I would add his tormentors to my growing list of people I would kill. However, all of that would have to wait, because there was one thing more important than my bloodlust at that moment…

"Where is Edward?" I said through my resentful trembling.

Arostali looked behind himself at the empty tank, and then looked back at me with another one of his evil grins. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about him. You have far more important things to think about right now."

"There is _nothing_ more important," I disagreed. "If you don't tell me where he is, I will kill you here and now, and this damn shock collar won't stop me. You have three seconds. One. Two. Thr…."

"Bella, that is enough," a familiar voice said as the doors opened behind me. A cool breeze swept through the room, and that breeze carried a familiar scent.

I turned slowly, and gasped. "Mom?"

…


	36. Betrayal

**Warning** : Counting on each and every reader to keep the faith. HEAs are my forte, so hold on, and have faith. Thank you!

…

 **Chapter 36 – Betrayal**

I recognized her scent from my newly awakened memories of my early childhood. My vampire cells had cleared all the muck and damage that my father's mind-erasing injections had created. Hell, I even remembered the day I was born with pristine clarity, and the woman standing before me, was definitely _my mother_.

"Cousin," Arostali greeted her with a head tilt.

"That is all, Marcus. You may leave," she told him stiffly.

"She is a bit mouthy, but I think given the right motivation, she should serve the cause well."

"I said _leave_!" she demanded, so Arostali nodded once, before handing her the remote, and then making a quick retreat.

My dumbfounded gaze had followed him to the door, but then I slowly turned my eyes to my very alive mother, who was completely unchanged from the last time I saw her. Not a single strand of grey in her hair, or even an extra line or freckle on her perfect face. She hadn't aged a day; if anything, we would be more easily believed to be sisters, rather than mother and daughter.

"Hello, beautiful," she cooed at me. Memories flooded my mind of so many joyful mornings when I'd wake up in my bed to her smiling over me. She would always whisper, "Hello, beautiful," and in return, I'd grin so widely that my cheeks would hurt.

This time, however, I was not smiling. "So, you're alive," I said quietly, unsure if I should be grateful, or even more pissed than ever before. I had so many _hows_ and _whys_ running through my mind, that it was hard to focus on which one to voice first.

"I'm so sorry, my love, but my absence from your life was an unfortunate necessity."

"An unfortunate necessity," I repeated her words slowly, trying to let them sink in. For a reason I couldn't quite grasp just yet, her comment seemed almost hollow-hearted.

"Now that you've grown into a strong, intelligent, woman," she continued, "we can finally be together."

"Where have you been all this time?" I whispered, currently unable to find any more strength in my voice. I had an overwhelming desire to reach out and touch her face, just to make sure I wasn't conjuring her from my dreams. How long I ached for just one more moment with her, and now that it was here, it was being marred by my own wary lack of trust in anyone and anything at that place. _Why was she there? Did she really just command Arostali to leave the room?_

"Isabella, the thing you have to understand, is how much your father loved you. He was a powerful man, I couldn't just take you with me when I had to leave. He would never allow it. Besides, you were always _his_ , from the moment you were born, I knew you belonged to him. His little mini."

I furrowed my brow. "Usually children belong to _both_ parents."

She smiled. "Not in the world of rich owners. He had connections, I knew he would have never let you go, so I had to let you go. Sweetheart, I know you can't possibly understand right now, but if you open your mind and allow me to explain, I promise you, everything will become clear."

"You're a hybrid," I stated, not wanting her to go off topic on some sugarcoated tangent. "Did dad know?"

"Your father was a strong-minded, ambitious man, who…"

"Did he know?" I pressed.

She smiled again, and then sighed. "No. Not at first. He didn't know until right before I left. I always knew I couldn't stay with your father forever, but his discovery of my true self made me leave sooner than I would have preferred. The truth is, your father and I should have never been together in the first place. My pregnancy with you was a…. happy accident."

"A happy accident?" I repeated with a sigh.

"When I first went to Washington, I had only _one_ goal in mind. My plan was to work for your grandfather, Charles Senior, and I interviewed for a job with him, as a secretary for his construction company. I knew I would have to earn his trust before he would allow me access into his underground dealings. But he was a terrible, rigid, untrusting man, and would never let a stranger close to his special _possessions_. I needed a different angle, and Charlie was it. He was so sweet, and had such innocent naïve ideologies about everything. Oh, and he was funny. That man knew how to make a knock-knock joke."

"What was your goal? Why did you really want to work with my grandfather?"

"I needed access to the Swan's monsters," she said evenly. "One, in particular."

My stomach twisted. "Edward."

She nodded. "The only other hybrid in existence… at the time. I was so upset when I found out the Higginbothams had sold him to the Swans. Edward and I were the same. We needed to be together."

"Together?"

"Charles Senior refused to allow anyone into the manor, but Charlie was so open and eager to be loved. It wasn't long before I found out I was pregnant, which was definitely a shock. I had only been on the all-human diet for a half-decade. I wasn't even sure if I could get pregnant. The possibility never entered my mind. But your father was so excited. He proposed right away, and even though his father didn't approve, he didn't care. We married at the courthouse, and everything was such a whirlwind. Most importantly, with that silly little legal document making me a Swan, I had access to their underground world."

"You used my father," I said slowly.

"I just didn't see any other way in," she admitted. "I needed to get to Edward."

"Why?"

She stared at me for a minute, before reaching for my neck. "Here, let me get that off of you," she said before removing my metal collar. If I didn't know better, I may have even felt one of her fingers linger on my mating bite mark. Before I had a chance to question her on it, she pulled back and placed the collar on the desk next to the remote, then reached for my hand. "Come. Let me show you something."

I was so desperate to believe in my mother, that I forced myself to ignore her odd behavior, as well as any doubts I had, and I took her hand… but not before slyly slipping that little remote into my corset. I wasn't sure what I thought I could do with it, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

Hand in hand, my mother and I left the office, and she began showing me around the Higginbotham underground facility. It was much like the one back home, but bigger, and everything was more pristine and newer looking. Whoever was in charge there definitely liked the most modern finishes, whereas my father's facility looked like it needed a few upgrades.

"Where are all the Higginbothams?" I asked, worried someone would see us and be upset by our casual stroll around the premises.

"Gone," she replied dismissively.

"So, who's in charge?"

"Why, I am, of course."

My stomach just about leapt into my throat. "You? You're Arostali's partner?"

"No, no, not at all. Honey, I would never partner with such a slimy little creep. I know he is always up to no good, and that's the only reason why I keep him close."

"He has plans," I told her. "Extremely disturbing plans. And he has your father!"

"My father?" she asked confused.

"Garrett. He is locked in the cells. He thinks you're dead!" I said in a rush. "He said my dad told him you died. Why would Dad tell him that? He always told me you left, which I guess was true, but he told Garrett you died. And Edward, he showed me his memory of you dying. He was so sure that shifter killed you."

"I know it's all confusing right now, and I will explain everything, but first I must show you something," she said before leading me down a long hall, and then into the infamous Higginbotham Lab.

Unlike the Swan Lab, this lab was bustling with scientists and lab technicians, virtually all of whom bowed their heads to my mother as we walked past.

"They love their work so much," she said proudly.

Many of their faces were covered with medical masks, which only made their eyes stand out that much more. Blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, amber eyes, and red eyes. Not all the scientists in there were human.

"What exactly are they working on?" I questioned.

"The future," she replied. She brought me to the back side of the lab, where there was a long row of rooms with viewing windows. Inside each window, was a man dressed in army fatigues. All of them were sitting on what looked like a hospital bed, and was hooked up to an IV.

"This is the future, my love. A future where no one has to die, and everyone can experience super strength and abilities."

"You're talking about the Immortal Humans?" I asked slowly, clinging to the tiniest shred of hope that I was misunderstanding her.

"The I.M.s will be the superior race; led by us, of course. The only natural hybrids. We will rule them all, Bella. The greatest monarchy this world has ever known."

My heart sank, and my anger boiled. "Mom, Arostali is playing you! He must have had Chelsea mess with your mind."

"Chelsea?" she asked confused. "Oh, honey, no. Chelsea is _my_ vampire. I've had her for quite some time."

"You have? Well, Arostali must be using her against you somehow, without you knowing it," I said, still convinced that Arostali was the evil mastermind behind everything.

She shook her head no. "Come," she said before leading me to the opposite side of the lab. Through a back door was a dark room. She flipped on the lights, and I gasped at the sight of several smallish cages filled with various creatures. "Unfortunately, I have to keep these ones in here. They just don't get along well with the others."

The first creature I noticed was vaguely familiar. A shifter, but not just any shifter. It was the very same shifter from Edward's memory. The shifter that he believed killed my mother.

"You have this creature here?" I questioned.

"He's family… well, sort of. Before my mother had me, she would inject herself with various creature DNA. She didn't know it at the time, but she passed on some of that foreign DNA to me. This beast's particular DNA can be found in my own cells, so I like to keep him around for nostalgia. Perhaps one day I can tap into those dormant cells and learn to shift as well."

I wasn't exactly sure what to think about that. I really wanted to question her about the day Edward thought she was attacked by that shifter, but then the next cage's inhabitant caught my full attention…

"Esme," I whispered. She was just sitting on a chair, and staring blankly ahead of her. She was completely still to the point of catatonia. "What's wrong with her?"

"She just needs a little extra help being compliant," Renée said casually.

"This is Edward's _mother_!" I said appalled.

"Yes, and she was absolutely hysterical. She was detrimental to herself. Constantly banging her head into the electrical bars. It was horrible. Something had to be done or she wouldn't have survived."

"So, you keep her locked up in this tiny cage? You have to see how wrong this is?"

"Unfortunately, it's necessary," she said evenly. "Now, look here. See?" she said, pointing to the occupant of the cage next to her. "This is Chelsea. All locked up where she can't hurt anyone."

The vampire in the cage before me looked no older than twelve. She was small and meek, and only slightly resembled the horrifying vision I had of her and Edward. She too was sitting quietly, but she was not catatonic. She was huddled on the ground, playing with a variety of dolls.

"Isn't she lovely? She reminds me a bit of you when you were little."

"I… I had a dream about her. It was…" I couldn't even finish my sentence. The sheer memory of that vision made me quiver.

"Dreams can be terrifying," Renée said sympathetically. "But they're just that, _dreams_."

The vision I had experienced of Chelsea was definitely _not_ a dream, and I knew my mother had to know something more about it. She wasn't telling me about a lot of things actually. Half-truths, undisclosed details, and blatant lies was all she had uttered since the moment she walked into that office and back into my life. Still, I was hoping she would give me something; anything at all that could convince me that she was at least being a little sincere. She was my mother, and if for no other reason, I was desperate to believe in her in some way, shape, or form.

"Mom, how can you be a part of all of this?" I asked quietly as I stared at the imprisoned girl. "You're half vampire. These creatures are just like you. How can you keep any of them in these conditions?"

"They're not like me," she disagreed. "I'm a hybrid. The best of both the natural and supernatural worlds. But I assure you, sweetheart, this is all just a means to an end. I have to play this role of monster owner, because it is the only way to strike against the other owners and ensure this despicable practice ends forever. I don't get joy from keeping them like this, but until we secure a better world for them, we have to resort to less than desirable means of containment."

"Where's Edward?" I asked, feeling more and more unnerved in my mother's presence. "Arostali said he was here. Where is he?"

"Marcus told you he was here?" she asked surprised. "Well, that's unfortunate. Edward _is_ here, but I was hoping you wouldn't know that just yet."

"Why not?" I asked strongly.

"Because I didn't want to upset you."

"Why would I be upset?"

"Come, there is much to discuss."

She led me back through the lab, but I froze mid-step when I noticed one particular scientist, who's mask had been pulled down as he was seemingly testing something.

"Carlisle?" I asked, not completely certain it was him. I had only seen a few foggy visions of him through Edward's mind as he dreamed, but it certainly looked like the image I had of him.

The man looked up at me, and despite never seeing him in person, an immediate warmth of familiarity ran through me. I knew deep inside my gut that it had to be him. "You are Carlisle, aren't you?"

Having no idea who I was, he looked at my mother confused.

"My daughter is curious about the lab," she told him.

"No, I'm not!" I disagreed anxiously. I meant to keep my mouth shut, but for all I knew, this could be the one and only time I ever had a chance to speak to him. He deserved to know where his family was. "I'm Edward's mate, and he's somewhere here on this compound. Eleazar is imprisoned in Alaska, Esme is locked up over there, and Rosalie is in the cells," I told him in a rush.

Carlisle's eyes grew larger, and a moment of sheer hatred washed over his features as he glared at my mother, but she was quick to explain her actions.

"It is always darkest before the light. Everyone is where they are, so we can move ahead with our plan to finally be free of all this tyranny."

He looked back at me, and I surprised myself by reflexively shaking my head no in subtle disagreement with my mother. I was trying so hard to be open-minded with her, but I couldn't lie to Carlisle.

Without any more attempts at convincing him, I knew he believed me. I could see his fear and mistrust of my mother as clearly in his eyes as it would have been if he had spoken out against her. Shockingly, however, he took a deep breath, and then looked back at me. "Everything is fine, child. Soon the world will be as it should."

My chest tightened from his comment, and I knew in that instant, without a shadow of a doubt, my mother was pure evil. Whatever she had hanging over Carlisle was big. He was clearly not under anyone's mind-control the way Esme was; he was of sound mind, but he was being threatened, and I had a horrible feeling it had everything to do with Edward.

"Where is Edward?" I asked my mother yet again. It took everything I had in me to soften my tone, because I knew if she thought I was as upset as I was, she wouldn't tell me anything more. I still needed answers, and I absolutely had to find Edward.

"Come, let's go talk," she said, with a subtle sharpness to her voice that I hadn't heard from her before.

She brought me back to the office, and that empty water tank in the back of the room was screaming at me. She more than knew what had happened to him; I was confident that she was actually the one who did it, and she did it of her own free will and quest for ultimate power. It was sickening.

"Bella, I want you to know, everything I have ever done, has been to make this world a better place. From the time I was born, I knew I was destined for greatness. All of my grandfather's hopes and dreams rested on me, and I swore to him on his deathbed that I would accomplish them."

"Why did you put Edward in the tank?" I asked her gently, somehow managing to contain the rage and grief I had inside of me so she would keep talking.

"The reason I showed you the lab and those men, was so you could see the bigger picture," Renée said, ignoring my previous question. "All that I have, I want to share with you. You and I can do this together."

"Together?" I asked her incredulously. I bit my bottom lip and mentally begged myself to keep my mouth shut, but my emotions became too strong. "You abandoned me," I said with a hot tear escaping down my cheek. "You left me and never looked back, and now you want me to rule the world with you?"

"I told you why I had to leave you. Your father would have never let you go. He hated me for what I was, and he hated what you were too, which is why he kept drugging you to make you forget."

"How do you know about that?"

"Do you honestly think I never checked in on you? I know everything he did to you."

"Then why did you allow it?" I asked as more tears rolled down my face. "Taking away memories is one of the cruelest things anyone could do."

"You needed time to grow up. You needed to know what it means to be human before you could rule them. Doctor Amun always had your best interests in mind when he gave you those injections."

"Wait… the doctor who worked for my dad ended up betraying him. He told the committee about me, and that my dad was hiding me."

"As I said, he had your best interests in mind. It was time for you to come take your place with me."

"He was working for you all along," I said as my heartbroken tears turned into angry ones. "He probably convinced my dad to give me the shots, didn't he?"

"He did convince him that it was for the best, because it was, Bella. Your father hated doing it, but he understood the necessity of it."

"Have you been in contact with my dad all this time? Or were you just controlling him through the doctor?"

"Your father is a headstrong man. He would have never knowingly worked with me on anything after I left. He thought he was doing the right thing by giving you a human life. And he _was_ doing the right thing, but you're old enough to handle the truth now, so your father is no longer needed."

"No longer needed? He is my _father_. You had him arrested. Have you seen him since then? He looks horrible."

"As I already told you," she said through gritted teeth. "Your father would never allow me to take you like this. He would get in the way. He would tell the other owners of my plans, and they would gang up against me. They all must die in order for us to create this better world."

"So, dad is just expendable too? He will be at that fight. They're making him be there. You know that, don't you? If all the owners are taken out, he will be killed too."

"Charlie was a sweet man, Bella, but now we both have outgrown him. His use is done; it's time to move on."

"He's my dad!" I snapped at her. "Other than the injections, I have nothing but fond memories of him. He was all I had for over sixteen years."

"And I'm grateful you had a nice upbringing, but that's in the past now. We must only look to the future. The future of I.M.s, ruled by _us_."

"If you wanted me to rule with you, why was I sent to Arostali's compound? Why didn't you just bring me straight here?"

"You only knew of your human life, you needed to learn about vampires too. You needed to learn to fight, and Marcus has told me that you have been doing extremely well in the training ring."

"Why do I need to know how to fight?" I pressed. "Why am I being put into that arena at all?"

"All worthy leaders must first be skilled warriors," she replied evenly. "They won't follow you if they don't respect you."

"And what battles have _you_ won?" I retorted bitterly.

"Honey, I have been fighting this ultimate battle for a century and a half. You are just a child. This is how you become a woman worthy of being the world's princess. After we have won, you will birth the regional leaders, and our family will span the world."

"I'll do what now?" I asked disturbed.

"From the moment I learned that a second hybrid existed, _a male hybrid_ , I knew my descendants would rule with me. I went to Swan Manor looking for my mate so we could start our family, but by the time I was able to gain access to him, I already had you. And Edward… he was just _so_ childlike. Charlie had always convinced his father not to fight him. He was so sheltered, and so pathetically unskilled at anything, I knew he wasn't ready. Selling The Terminator, and forcing Charlie and his associates to fight Edward in the tournaments, was the only way to toughen him up. Unfortunately, The Terminator just kept winning. He was too good, so I needed to find him a stronger opponent. Then, finally we had everything set up. A certain defeat of The Terminator, and I knew it was time for Edward to finally step out of his shadow and become the vicious beast he was always meant to become."

"So you faked your death?"

"Edward loved me. I made sure he did. Always giving him the same kindness his previous coven had. I knew he was my mate, but I also knew he was a long way away from being ready to father my future children."

"Wait! Just stop right there. Edward is _my_ mate. You can go off on your crazy-train all you want, but he is mine, and he always will be. He even showed me a memory he had of you telling him that we were destined to be together."

"It is true that I have always had precognitive dreams. But the future is always changing, and I have seen a wide variety of possible futures. However, the one thing that has always been consistent, is that Edward is _my_ mate."

I laughed once humorlessly. "Uh, hate to break it to you, but Edward and I are far more than a little _friendly_. We are mates, in _every_ sense of the word."

"He loves you, of course, because I made sure that he did. I always brought you to him, and saw to it that you were close, so that one day, I could use you to better control him if he didn't immediately agree with my vision of the world."

"If he was really your mate, you wouldn't have to control him," I argued.

"I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't already tainted him!" she spat at me. I wish I could've said I was shocked by her outburst, but at that point, nothing was really shocking when it came to my evil mother. "He was supposed to be _mine_!" she continued to rage. "I wanted him to love you, but not be _in love_ with you. And having him bite you was completely unacceptable!"

"But he _did_ bite me, so he is _my_ mate!" I argued. "I have his mark."

"The mating bond of vampires is more than just some bite mark," she replied angrily. "You don't get to choose it, and just because he thought you were his mate, doesn't make it true. Besides, he does not have your mark on him… he has mine."

"You're lying," I snapped back.

"I'm afraid not. He is my mate. He was always meant to be mine. We are the same. Identical souls. You're only a quarter vampire. I was willing to just leave you alone to have a normal human life with your father, but you had to go exploring the manor. You had to find Edward and confuse him. His affections for you have always been misplaced. I wanted him to love you as the father he should have been to you. Everything about you was a mistake."

Her words literally made my skin crawl. It was like a swift punch in the gut, followed by a million knifes stabbing me in the heart. My non-venomous bites on Edward had always healed and disappeared, which had upset me from the first time I bit him. Learning my venomous mother had bitten him in a way that would surely make a permanent mark, was excruciating. How could she do that to him? _How could she do that to me?_

"You're fucking disgusting," I told her, hoping to scream it out, but I ended up choking on my emotions.

Her angry expression suddenly relaxed into a tense, but calm one.

"Bella, you are my daughter, and that is the only reason why you're still alive. I will not have you threatening me in any way, or the world I plan to create. Edward is my mate, but I have no interest in a sexual relationship with him anymore. Since you ruined that, _you_ will now birth his children."

I shook my head with incredulity. "Wow, and here I thought you couldn't get any more despicable," I mumbled through my angry tears. "You want your daughter to breed with your mate? That doesn't sound even a little disturbing to you?"

"The mating bond isn't sexual. I had hopes it would be, but only because I wanted full-bred hybrid children to help me reign."

"Full-bred hybrids? That shit doesn't even make sense!" I yelled.

" _Loyal_ children," she added. "Powerful children. Not ones raised by an inferior mundane human."

"You mean not ones you _abandoned_ to be raised motherless?" I corrected her. "Edward thought you were dead. You have a funny way of showing your affections to your so-called mate."

"He thought I was dead because it was necessary to harden him. To anger him into wanting to fight. Our bond was so strong, I knew he would never stop fighting for me. And he didn't. My death made him who he is today, and I would do it all again the same exact way. All of it, that is, except for allowing that pitiful human to fuck me. Sleeping with Charlie will always be my greatest mistake. I wasted my superior DNA on that human's subpar offspring, and now look where we are? You had the audacity to grow up to adulterate my mate! Because you defiled him, I'll have to settle with Swan's tainted bloodline making my heirs only a shadow of what they should have been… But I don't need your support, dear child. It would have been much easier if you were willing to cooperate, but now I see that isn't going to be possible."

She walked over to her desk and pressed a on the phone. When someone responded, she told them, "I'm finished with Cigno Nera. Have the guards come bring her back to her cell."

"Yes, Ma'am," the voice responded.

My mother turned back to me. "I hope you survive the big battle tomorrow night," she said emotionlessly. "As soon as it's over, we will begin your breeding. I can see you're going to be a problem, so you'll have to stay in the lab cells for the duration of your time here. When I have all the children I want out of you, I'll show you mercy by sending you to retire at Marcus's compound."

All of my affections for my mother had exploded into the stratosphere, and I was beyond hurt at that point - I was enraged. I was appalled. I was more hateful than I ever could have been towards my father – towards anyone for that matter. She took everything from me, and I had no idea where to go from there.

When my super hearing sensed the guards approaching, I knew I was almost out of time, but I needed to ask my mother one last time…

"Where. Is. Edward?" I demanded. "You clearly had to torture him," I said, pointing at the empty tank. "Where is he now? He must still be here if I'm to _breed_ with him after the battle. Where is he?"

Renée smirked evilly at me. "Edward loved you. That was clear from the beginning. It did take a little… _persuasion_ for him to understand. He thought you were his mate, but I set him straight. He is now loyal to me, and _only_ me. My venom is locked in his neck forever, and because of that intense connection, he will never betray me. It's more than emotional, and even more spiritual; it's physical. He is mine, forever and always, and there is nothing you can do to change that. He was not happy about my order to breed with you, but… he understands it's for the greater good."

"You should never have to order your mate to do anything," I told her, once again being betrayed by my emotions. I meant for it to sound so much harsher than it did, but I felt like I was dying inside, and it was incredibly difficult to control my tone as more tears escaped down my face.

That woman - that woman who was supposed to love and protect me - had every single person I cared for as her prisoner. She was ripping me to shreds from the inside out, and I was powerless to stop her.

When the guards arrived, and grabbed my arms to restrain me, I felt completely defeated, but she just had to kick me one more time.

"Oh, and Cigno," she said coldly. "Tell your little monster friends that your plan to escape and overthrow me, will never work. I will have a team of I.M.s there at all time. You can't beat them, especially with the weapons they will be equipped with… Come to think of it, don't tell them anything. It's best if they don't know that I plan on burning them after they've taken out all the owners and the diplomats."

"Your father is in there," I said brokenly. "You don't even care about him?"

"Vampires are inferior creatures, Bella. That's something Edward had to learn too. They are slaves to their monstrous instincts, whereas hybrids are slaves to no one…. Well, I'm not a slave, I should say. I wish we could have been friends, Cigno, but you just have far too much of your father in you. It truly is a shame."

"If I die tomorrow, you won't get your heirs," I told her, knowing she didn't really care either way.

And she didn't care. She simply shrugged, and waved her hand in front of her face. "I will live forever, so I don't really _need_ heirs. I want the children, and I will have them if you survive, but your death would only sever the few ties Edward still feels for you. His venom in your neck calls to him, but because it was a mistake, and you aren't his true mate, it isn't anywhere close to as strong as my bite on him is. Still, it would only be a win to cut that tie once and for all. See? No matter the result tomorrow, I win."

I wanted to lash out and attack her. I wanted to hurt her the way she hurt me, but I knew that wasn't even possible. She was utterly heartless, and with diabolical egomaniacal monsters like her, there was nothing that anyone could do to hurt them… nothing, except to thwart her plans. My mother would not succeed in her disturbing world domination scheme. One way or another, she would be stopped, and I would be the one to stop her, no matter the cost….

…

*** **A/N:** Again, please have faith. Edward is returning in the next chapter, and an HEA is around the corner. Hate it? Love it? Disturbed by it? All of the above? Let me know in the reviews. Thank you!


	37. Announcements

**Chapter 37 – Announcements**

"Um… wow," Rosalie said after I finished telling them everything.

"Yeah, wow is right," Emmett agreed. "Who would have thought that the real villain in all of this was your long lost, presumed dead, mother. Garrett, you must be so fucking proud. I know I'd be if I fathered such a ruthless conniving monster bitch like that."

"Why do I always find myself wanting to slap you?" Rose asked him.

"This is not my doing," Garrett seethed. "It was Kate's parents. They must have raised her with their ideals. She is a Higginbotham through and through."

"We must do something," Carmen said emotionally. "They have our loved ones. I can only imagine the torment Esme is going through, locked inside the depths of her mind. I knew that she would never behave that way of her own free will."

"And my father," Rosalie added. "It must be killing him knowing what state we're all in. He was probably told we were safe as a way to get him to continue to work for them. That's the only reason he worked for them before."

"But why not have Garrett work for them as well?" Carmen questioned. "You used to work in that lab too, no?"

"Yes, I did," Garrett confirmed. "But after Renée was born, I was imprisoned, and I assumed it was shut down. She must have reopened it."

"I wonder why she never brought you back in?" Emmett mused. "She must have known Arostali had you. He hasn't even owned you very long."

"She was so… _hateful_ of all vampires," I told them. "She didn't even care when I told her that her father was here. It's like he was no more important to her than the vampire DNA that they're using for the I.M.s."

"It's the Higginbotham way of thinking," Garrett continued. "They viewed all creatures as being beneath them. They succeeded in making my daughter hate even herself."

"Sounds to me like the only one she _doesn't_ hate is herself," Emmett disagreed.

"She hates herself," Garrett repeated assuredly. "Which is why she is acting out in this way. She can't kill the monster she is, so she will turn everyone else into monsters as well."

"Or destroy the entire world trying," I added. "She needs to be stopped, no matter the cost," I said to Garrett meaningfully. If the only way to stop her was by killing her, then so be it. I understood that, and I needed to make sure Garrett did too.

He didn't respond to my words verbally, but he did sigh, and then nod once in defeat. I knew it had to be difficult for him. His infant daughter had been ripped from his arms, only to be raised by the worst family to ever walk the earth. He was just coming to terms with being told she was dead, and now to find out she is actually still alive, but that we were going to have to kill her. It was hard enough for me, and I absolutely loathed her at that point, so I could only imagine his pain.

"Do you really think she was telling you the truth about Edward being her mate?" Rose asked me gently.

"No," I said as confidently as I was capable of, but a tear betrayed me by rolling down my cheek. "I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. I wasn't venomous when I bit him. Originally, he didn't even understand why he bit me. We didn't know about the whole mating thing until Eleazar told us. I mean… they are both half vampire, whereas I'm just a quarter vampire… and they were both alive long before I was. I guess it would make sense for him and…" I couldn't even say the word ' _her'_ when referring to my mother in that context. It was all so raw and excruciatingly disturbing. "Everything is just really fucked up now."

"But really, what's the big deal?" Emmett questioned. "I mean, say they are mates; so what?"

"So what?" Rosalie spat. "If it's true it means she has been sleeping with her mother's mate? Like Bella said, that is really fucked up."

"Why? The mating bond isn't sexual. Don't get me wrong, I'd fuck the shit out of you if I could, but I highly doubt your dad would want to fuck his mate… I mean, maybe he would, if he was into that sort of thing. I'm not judging!" Emmett said with a look of slight confusion on his face.

Rosalie rolled her eyes, but Carmen was quick to save him. "When I was human, I was attracted to both men and women, but I never had any romantic feelings for Esme. I cherish her more like a sister."

"Yeah, and didn't you say you knew of a mother and daughter mated duo?" Em questioned.

Rosalie huffed. "Yes, but unlike them, this _is_ a betrayal. Bella considered Edward her mate. She bit him. Now he has another set of teeth marks in his neck. Romantic or not, I know this must be painful for her." She turned back to me. "I love my brother, but I'm really angry at him right now. I'm so sorry this is happening to you."

"I blame myself," Emmett added. "I didn't understand the mating bond enough to teach him about it. He should have never bitten you. I'm sorry too, Bella. I love you like a little sister, but you may be my enemy now."

"What?" Rose and I asked at the same time.

"Look, I raised Edward. I protected him, and taught him everything he knows. I love that kid as if he were my own. Plus, he is my mate's little brother. No matter what path he goes down, I gotta follow. If he is on _Team Renée_ with the whole world domination thing now, then so am I."

"No, you're not," Rosalie told him assuredly. "You know I'd do anything for my brother, but this just feels so wrong. Maybe he is being controlled like Esme. All I know for sure is that he loves Bella, and he would want us to stick by her and make sure she gets out of this thing alive."

"It doesn't have to be a choice between the two," Emmett argued. "We can still be friends with Bella; I'll even vouch for her to the new boss lady."

"Bella is trying to help us break free, not be enslaved by a new owner!" Rose snapped at him.

"We need to face facts," Emmett continued. "We are locked in this cage, so the chances are we can't beat her. Besides, the numbers are stacked against us, and we have no clear path out of this thing. We can all be together again if we just give in to all this. Even your dad is here in this building, and if we rebel, she may kill him for all we know."

Rosalie stared at him dumbfounded for a moment, and then she casually looked back at me. "Did your mother have Edward's bite mark on her neck?"

I furrowed my brows. "Not that I saw, but she didn't exactly pull her collar down to show me."

"If you were close enough to her to hold her hand, you should have been able to smell it. Our venom smells unique, which is another function of the mating bite; other vampires can smell when a vampire is mated, so they know they aren't a possible mate for them. Plus, it's a warning that if you mess with that vampire, you'll have to deal with its mate as well."

I shook my head. "I didn't smell Edward at all… but I don't really know what Edward smells like. My vampire senses were dormant the last time we were together."

"Did you smell any other scent other than hers?" Carmen asked.

I shrugged. "There were a lot of different scents. We passed through the labs, and there were a wide variety of creatures working there."

"Scents can linger in the air and on fabrics, but when you were alone with her, you should still smell her mate as strongly as if he was in the same room. The venom left in the neck of the mating bite is that potent."

"But all of you have been in fights with other vampires, where those vampires have left offensive bite wounds, so why do we not still smell their venom in you?" I asked perplexed.

"The mating bite is distinctive," Garrett jumped in. "If Emmett and I were fighting, even to the death, I wouldn't bite his neck. That is almost an unspoken taboo amongst our species. The neck is a private spot between mates. It would be like a stranger touching you inappropriately, except even more so. It goes against our very nature to bite there unless it is our mate. That being said, the neck is the only location in which the venom is locked in place permanently. Venom from all other bites, in any other location on the body, disappears almost immediately."

"So, that would mean Bella is definitely Edward's mate," Rosalie decided. "He bit her there, so…"

"But he is half-human, and was letting his hormones mess with his vampire senses. Plus, Renée bit him, so…" Emmett argued with a shrug.

"Renée, who is also half human," Rose rebuffed.

"There must be a mistake in here somewhere," Carmen offered. "Whether the mistake was Edward's when he bit Bella, or Renée's when she bit Edward. They can't both be natural. One of them must have committed the ultimate vampire sacrilege."

"But Edward wasn't aware of the mating bite and what it meant," Emmett said, dutifully maintaining his unyielding support of his pseudo little brother.

"Renée must have known," Rose retorted.

"Exactly!" Emmett agreed. "She knew, and she bit him, so that means she must be his true mate."

"Or just evil as fuck," Carmen mumbled.

"I'm with her on this one," Rose agreed.

"Guys, I don't mean to butt into vampire business and all," Jake interjected. "But I gotta say, it sucks that Edward found his true mate, but you can't really blame him either. I was once in love with a girl named Emily. She was perfect. We were best friends, grew up together, I would have sworn up and down she was the love of my life, and I would never, could never, love anyone else or betray her. But then I met Leah, and as much as I hated hurting Emily, Leah is my soulmate. Even with all her faults, and despite how much we fight and bicker, my soul is irrevocably hers. Kind of sounds like this situation. Regardless of how much Edward may have loved you, if he was meant for this other chick, then there isn't anything he can do about it. It's not even a choice."

We were all quiet as we considered what he was saying, but Rose couldn't be quiet long. "Well, who the fuck asked you? As you said, this is _vampire_ business, so go back to the other side of your cage and lick your crotch or something."

"Wow, Rosalie, that hurt. And here I thought we had grown past dog insults," Jake said, dramatically offended. "You know, I actually missed you since we've been separated."

She snorted. "Shows how stupid you are."

"Aw, you missed him too," Emmett ratted her out. "She was totally bummed after you left."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Anyway, it doesn't matter if Renée is Edward's real mate or not. We are going to help Bella put a stop to all these horrible tournaments, because it's the right thing to do. We are going to free everyone, and let all creatures create lives for themselves outside of cages. I liked what Bella was saying about making a set of rules for everyone to follow so we can all peacefully coexist. That's the world I want to live in, and I'm not letting my brother's insane, possible mate, get in the way of that. At least if Renée dies in the process he can be free of her. No offense, Garrett."

"Or, he'll be forced to live in the excruciating abyss of pain for eternity, the way all other vampires do who lose their mates," Emmett said casually.

"Well, we can help him through it," she replied steadfast.

Emmett took a deep breath. "Okay, so we go ahead with the plan… of not having a plan, other than taking out the owners and stopping the I.M.s."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Carmen agreed.

"But I'm not fighting Edward if it comes down to that," Emmett said firmly.

"Edward is my baby brother," Rosalie told him, with sudden intensity. "I was there and witnessed his birth. I was the first person to ever hold him. Do you think I want to go against him? And Esme - I love her like a second mother. Like, a real mother, not the shitty one Bella has. If she is forced to fight against us, I will certainly take her out because Esme was always about doing the right thing, and _this_ is the right thing. If she was of sound mind, I know she would be fighting right along side of us."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that," Emmett disagreed. "Edward is her son. I can't imagine anyone going against their kid like that."

"I am," Garrett told him. "Renée is my child, but I can not follow her on this. It is because I love her, that I must do whatever I can to stop her, and save her from herself."

Emmett reluctantly nodded, but it was heavyhearted. "Okay, let's do this. Let's save the fucking world by killing a bunch of rich people."

Everyone looked at each other in agreement, but I had a hard time meeting anyone's eyes. I was trying to be strong and force myself to keep it all together, but I honestly felt like I was dying inside. Edward was my mate, and my mother was the one who defiled him… but what if she was right and it was the other way around? It was all so confusing, and utterly heartbreaking any way I looked at it. My grief was paralyzing; I needed to bury it if we even had the hope of defeating my mother.

But the biggest fear we all had, was the potential of facing our loved ones in battle. Would they be fighting for my mother? And if so, could we defeat them without killing them, and somehow manage to pick up the pieces in the aftermath? I suppose we wouldn't know until it happened.

…

We spent the rest of the evening in quiet introspection. There really wasn't anything left to discuss, and the more we tried to predict the unpredictable, the more frustrated and anxious we became, which certainly wasn't helping the situation.

The next morning came and went, and we were given what could be our last feeding. I was issued raw meat, of course, but thankfully they weren't watching us, and each of the vampires gave me a portion of their blood rations. As I was finishing off Rosalie's, thankfully sucking it out of the pouch and not her lips, I was reminded of something…

"Garrett, is there anything you can do with this?" I asked, handing him the small electric collar remote I had stashed in my corset. I didn't have much hope, but if anyone had a chance of making it useful, it was Garrett, due to his previous stint as a scientist.

"Actually, I may be able to figure out something since I'm the one who first invented the shock collar."

"You did?" I asked surprised.

"Many, many, decades ago. I discovered a particular voltage of electricity that was harmful to vampires, and together with the human scientists, we were able to harness that power into means to control vampires, such as the bars and the collars."

"So, we have _you_ to thank for this shit?" Emmett growled at him while tugging on his collar.

"Wait, where did your collar go?" Rose asked me, just now noticing mine was missing. "And how did you get that?" she questioned, pointing at the remote.

"My mother took it off, and I guess forgot to put it back on. I snuck this remote off the desk. What can you do with it?" I asked Garrett.

"Well, it might take a little time, but I may be able to fiddle with it in a way to deactivate the arena."

"But why would you need to do that?" Emmett wondered. "Doesn't Arostali and Renée's entire plan rest on turning off the arena, so we can break out and kill the politicians?"

"At this point, we can't be sure what their plan is. We don't know what they were or weren't being honest about, so it's best to be prepared for anything," Carmen told him.

Garrett got right to work deconstructing the remote, but he needed one other thing to make it work the way he needed it to.

"I need one of these collars," he said unexpectedly.

"They will shock us if we pull at them," Rosalie told him, which only irritated him.

"Yes, I am aware, but I need one. One of you need to volunteer to remove yours."

"The electrical current is too strong. We will be out of it for days and unable to fight tonight," Carmen told him.

"But I think if I have the code locked in these collars' mainframe, I can reprogram them, even without a computer. I just need both pieces."

"Okay, I'll take mine off," Emmett said bravely. "I'm the biggest, so I can withstand the shock the most."

"They're tailor-made for each vampire's unique strength, so your shock setting is probably the highest amongst us," Garrett told him.

"I'll do it," Rose volunteered.

"No, let me," Carmen stepped forward. "It has to be me. I want to defeat them as much as any of you, but if they put me against Esme, I can't continue."

"It's going to be hard for all of us," Rosalie told her.

"Yes, fighting loved ones is difficult, but fighting a mate is not possible. As much as I want to, I can't."

"She's right," Garrett agreed. "Vampires are physically incapable of fighting their mate. Esme will certainly defeat her if they are put against each other."

"Or she will be the key to beating Esme," Emmett offered. "The mating bond goes both ways, so Esme can't fight her either. Carmen can, however, corner her and subdue her, right?"

"Not if Esme is being controlled by Chelsea," Rosalie denied. "I'm telling you, her powers are so strong."

"Esme was catatonic," I confirmed. "She is being completely controlled by my mother, presumably using Chelsea."

"Safest bet is to take you out of the equation," Garrett said apologetically.

Carmen nodded, and then slowly reached up to her collar.

"Stop!" Garrett shouted at her. "You will lose consciousness before you can manage to get it off. Someone else must remove it for you."

"But that will put two of us out of the match," Rose disagreed.

"No, I'll do it," I said determinedly. "The shock hurts, but I can withstand it, and I heal fast. I should be fine by the time the battle begins."

"You withstood it because you felt that phantom cold wet sensation," Rose reminded me. "This could stop you heart, for all we know."

I shrugged. "Well, maybe that's not such a bad thing. When Edward's heart was stopped it made him even stronger."

"You also said it made him like a crazed zombie," Rose retorted.

"It did… but he basically died first, so this will be different. Who knows, maybe the shock will reset my heart into a more natural rhythm."

"Your heart is in a perfect rhythm for you," Garrett told me unexpectedly. "Granted, it's not a human rhythm, but it's perfectly strong considering you're a hybrid."

"Oh," I said, realizing he was right and I probably never had a heart condition to begin with. All that worry about me dropping dead at any given time was for nothing. "So, it's settled then; I'll be the one to take off her collar."

"We don't know what this will do to your heart," Garrett countered. "As the only one with a heartbeat in this cage, you are probably the worst choice for this."

"Except for the fact that I have been shocked a few times already, and I'm fine. If I die, just get my heart restarted with CPR or something. Ok? Ok. Let's stop arguing and just do this already," I insisted before turning to Carmen. "Are you ready?"

She nodded. "Do it."

"Lock your jaw so you don't bite your tongue off," Garrett warned us.

We both nodded at him, and then we nodded at each other. I reached up for her collar, locked my jaw and braced myself, and then pulled.

The collar was made of a much stronger metal compound than I was expecting, and the moment I tugged on it, even a little, I was jolted with the worse shock I had ever experienced. It was so strong, that both Carmen and I were thrown to the ground violently, and I even momentarily lost my sight.

"Okay, that sucked. How are these so much stronger than the bars?" I questioned as I fought my way to my feet.

Rose and Garrett both helped me stand, and Emmett helped Carmen.

"The tech here is more advanced than what Arostali has," Garrett explained. "This really isn't worth all this. We don't even know if it will be needed."

"Better to have it than wish we had it," I told him, and then turned back to Carmen. "Now that I know what to expect, I'll make sure to hang on better this time. Are you ready to go again?"

She reluctantly nodded, but didn't voice it, and I couldn't help but wonder if she could even speak at all right then. The pain on her face was extreme, but she managed to bury it as much as possible.

I hated hurting her, but I just had a gut feeling it would be necessary.

I took a deep breath, and reached for her collar again. Knowing what to expect made the anticipation both better and worse, but I pushed through it, and gathered all my strength to break it as quickly as possible.

Again, the pain was immeasurable. I blacked out, and when I reopened my eyes, I was back on the ground, and I legitimately saw stars exploding in my vision.

"Ouch," I said, feeling dizzy as I was being helped to my feet once more.

"Thank god you're okay," Rosalie cooed in a rush. "We weren't sure if you were going to wake up, and now the guards are coming."

"Was I unconscious?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, for like twenty minutes," Em confirmed.

"Is Carmen…?" My eyes wheeled around for her, and my heart sank when I saw her still lying on the ground.

"She will be fine. She just needs time to recover," Garrett told me.

"I rammed the electrified gates at Arostali's once, and I was out for three days. It was awesome!" Em said enthusiastically.

"Did it at least work?" I asked, but I didn't need an answer since I spotted Carmen's broken collar in Garrett's hands as he was trying to conceal it before the guards came. "What are we going to tell them about Carmen?"

"We're out of time to discuss it," Rosalie mumbled as the sound of heavy boots thundered towards us.

We figured they were coming because the removal of Carmen's collar must have sounded an alarm to them, but when they arrived in front of our cell, they were surprised to see her on the floor.

"What happened with that one?" one of the guards asked.

"I decapitated her," I told him quickly. "She mouthed off, so I took her out."

"We reattached the head, but she will be unconscious for a few days," Garrett added.

One of the guards looked pissed and quickly retreated, but the others continued with their business. "Take the four," one of the men instructed the others.

More men entered the facility, and they all teamed up to escort certain creatures from their cages. It was easy to presume they were taking the twenty five who were selected to be in the fight, but it was too early in the day for the main event, so we weren't exactly sure where they were taking us.

Jake and his friend, Seth, were being escorted out behind us, and we were following some of the werewolves. We were all brought to the arena, where we were kept off to the side while an announcer entered the ring. Even from that position, I could see that the stadium was mostly empty, except for the small crowd of owners in the front row.

"Gentlemen, these are your Apex 25 competitors," the announcer declared. "In no particular order, first up is from House Whitfield, the demon, _Hades_!"

The gate in front of us opened, and the guards issued in the horned creature that had been standing in front of us, and then the gate locked again. One by one, the creatures were all introduced, classified by breed and owner house. I stopped paying attention after the third werewolf, but when House Newton was announced, I couldn't help but try to get in a better position to see Michael and Lauren. Not that it mattered, but I wondered if they knew what happened to us? Lauren obviously had a crush on Edward, and with her disdain for vampires, I only wished I had been there to see the look on her face when that truth was exposed.

After Jacob and Seth were escorted out, the announcer introduced, "House Arostali."

Emmett, Rosalie, and Garrett were all named by their fighting aliases, but as I waited for my own name to be called, I was shocked when they moved on to the next house without calling me out.

The rest of the creatures were soon taken into the ring, and I was the last one standing behind the gate. I briefly wondered if my mother had changed her mind about making me fight, but then I was absolutely flabbergasted by the words that came out of the announcer's mouth next.

"And fighting for House Swan, humanoid hybrid, _Cigno Nera_!"

I wasn't sure why I was classified as a ' _humanoid hybrid'_ , but I didn't really care either; my sudden change in houses was what was most baffling. Unfortunately, I didn't exactly have time to ponder any of it. The gate opened for me, and I was ushered into the arena. I locked eyes with my friends, and their shocked faces mirrored my own, but when I spotted my father in the audience, his face looked absolutely petrified. It was obvious he knew nothing about my change in houses, and he was both livid and more terrified than I had ever seen him before. Under his emotional distress, I could see that he was even more gaunt and pale than the last time I saw him. I was still upset about his part in everything, but after speaking to my mother, my dad was a damn near saint; in that moment, all I wanted to do was find a way to help him.

Of course, concern for my father was quickly overshadowed…

"And last, but certainly not least, scoring the highest amongst all the entries during the assessments, for House Higginbotham, world renowned vampire hybrid, _Daemon_!"

I gasped, and my heart jumped into my throat as the name echoed through the stadium. _Was he really there?_

Opposite of where we had entered the arena, a second gate opened, and out strutted the most physically beautiful creature I had ever seen. Everything about him was perfect: his face, his physique, his posture – there wasn't even a hair out of place. He was almost too perfect in a way that didn't really make sense. He had always been beyond beautiful, but now there was something almost _unnatural_ about his beauty. As he swaggered around the arena, and basked in the excitement of the owners' applause, his eyes swept right over me as if I was no one to him, and I immediately understood why…

"That wasn't him," I told the others as soon as we were all locked back in our cells.

"Uh, I know he was all shiny and shit, but unless he has some kind of identical twin out there, that was Edward," Emmett said apologetically.

"Emmett, is your nose even working?" Rose asked irritated. "Bella is right, that thing didn't smell anything like Edward, so it wasn't him."

"How could you smell anything in that arena?" he retorted. "How can you smell anything in here? All these fucking shit smelling baboons mask everything."

"The creature that looked like Edward was a shifter," Jacob informed us. I walked over to where our two cages were only separated by bars, and waited for Jake to continue. "I recognized the scent immediately. Ephraim Black… my great-great-grandfather. He had gone missing shortly after his son, my great-grandfather, was born. The reason I recognize his scent is because my dad used to have an old shirt of his, and he made sure we all knew his smell, just in case he ever showed back up."

"Scents that old can be contaminated with other scents," one of the other shifters suggested.

"It was him," Jake insisted. "I'm sure of it. The question is, why would they have a shifter posing as Edward?"

"I can only think of two reasons," Garrett mused. "Either he refused to cooperate with whatever they wanted him to do… or he's dead," he said carefully while looking at me.

The fear of his potential death had been plaguing me, but knowing he had a shapeshifter stand in, only gave me a renewed spark of hope. Edward wasn't dead, even without feeling that connection to him anymore, I knew deep inside my heart he was still alive. My mother had wanted him far too long for her to allow him to be killed, even if he was being combative. Which could only mean he was resisting them, and to me that was all the conformation I needed that he was still on our side.

Somehow, someway, I was going to find him, it was only a matter of time, and that time was just about here…

 **...**

 *****A/N: I know I promised Edward's return in this chapter, but it got too long, so it had to be pushed off to the next. I apologize for that. The end is near! :o**


	38. The Killing Field

**Chapter 38 – The Killing Field**

Emmett and Garrett both had prior experience with the Apex 25 Tournament, so they agreed that the reason for my sudden change in houses, was likely because the Swans no longer had any monsters. As one of the founding houses, it was important that they were represented in the ring, despite being in shambles behind the scenes. Having me be the Swan's monster entry was also just one more form of punishment for my father. They truly were torturing him, and I had no doubt my mother was ultimately behind it. Torturing him, to torture me. It was despicable, and made me hate Renée that much more.

A few hours after they officially announced us as the twenty five fighters, it was time for the main event. We were brought back into the holding area beside the arena; this time, the stadium was full and roaring with enthusiasm and excitement. It was disgusting. They were all excited to see us fight for our lives, and as I looked at the nervous faces around me, it was clear who the real monsters were.

Being in that situation was utterly surreal. Not even a year ago, I was an ignorant, naïve, normal high school girl that was only concerned with mundane high school girl issues. It seemed like a lifetime ago - someone else's lifetime ago. I wasn't that girl anymore, and I was just now beginning to understand that I never was. Despite being forced to fight for my life, this _creature_ that I had become is what I was truly meant to be. It was time to flex my muscles, and figure out exactly what I was fully capable of…

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, your Apex twenty-five!"

We were once again announced by our aliases and owner's house, as we were escorted into the ring. Then we stood in a line, side by side, as the audience cheered while they had a chance to get a good look at us. The shifter, posing as Edward, seemed to be the only one reveling in the applause.

When the crowd finally quieted, we were given ten seconds to take cover amongst the labyrinth of stone walls and obstacles spread about the arena. When the ten seconds were up, a buzzer went off, signifying the beginning of the battle.

"We just have to survive for twenty-five minutes," Rosalie told me as we ducked behind a prop shaped like a boulder.

"Where did Emmett and Garrett go?" I asked her quietly, knowing one of the other fighters could be within hearing range.

"Probably trying to kill the werewolves," she reminded me.

That was the plan. All of us were going to team up against the werewolves, however, when it came to supernatural beings accustomed to fighting 'til the death, you could never be too confident that they would keep their word. Many were natural enemies, so overcoming their nature for the bigger cause was understandably difficult.

"Whoa!" I jumped as a body came flying through the wall I was leaning against.

"You know, kicking some ass can be a lot of fun," Rose said with wiggling brows.

As much as I was trying to maintain my composure, I couldn't help but smile at her.

"Let's stay close, and just throw some creatures around a bit. Put on a good show at least," she added.

I nodded. "Let's do it."

We ran out to the middle of the arena, where it was more open, and the bulk of the fighting was taking place. There was blood splattering, monsters growling, and creatures of all different species snapping at each other. It definitely looked like some big budget horror flick, but after looking a bit closer, I could see that most of the fighters really were going easy on each other. The werewolves were the only ones fighting at full force, but that was to be expected. The mangy mongrels didn't understand complex or critical thinking. Because of their lack of intellect, they would never be allowed to roam free anyway, so it was best if we sacrificed them for the greater good.

Rose and I jumped right into battle. We each took on a shifter, and I tried like hell to keep the smile off my face while doing so. Jacob was fighting me, and he kept shifting his shape from one creature to another. At one point, he even turned into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, which had to be one of the most hilarious things I ever witnessed. I was only grateful to have use of my superhuman sense of smell, otherwise I wouldn't have been sure it was even him.

"Stop it!" I growled at him, trying to disguise my laughter.

I thought we were all doing a good job of making the fights believable, but after fifteen minutes or so, the owners became angry.

"Stop this atrocity!" one of them yelled at us.

"This isn't a fucking ballet. Fight each other!" another shouted.

We did our best to make the blows more believable, but our attentive audience wasn't convinced. The match was only supposed to last twenty five minutes, and in that time, they hoped to see a lot more carnage than what we were giving them. The clock continued to tick, and other than a few werewolves, no one was dying.

"This is your last warning," we were shouted at by one of the tournament committee members. "Fight, or there will be repercussions!"

My eyes found Arostali in the audience, and he was just as angry. We weren't following directions by killing all the creatures in the ring, and in his mind, that had to be done before he could cut the power to the cage. He had made his instructions simple – the vampires and I needed to kill all the other creatures, then he would cut the electricity, so we could break out of the arena and kill everyone else. According to him, it had to be in that order, or it wouldn't work. But what he didn't know was that we were doing it our way, and we were done listening to him.

As if in cue, suddenly the buzzing sound of the arena cutoff, and I knew, without a doubt, Arostali wasn't behind it. He wanted all the creatures dead, and he was certainly planning to take cover before we made our "escape". I looked to my left, and saw Garrett smirking with the small remote in his hands.

Jacob, who had also noticed the lack of buzzing, as well as Garrett's triumphant expression, shifted his shape back to his natural form, and reached for his ear where I noticed what looked like a small gold hoop earring.

"What's that?" I asked him quietly.

"The shifter's version of your electrified collars," he explained in a hushed rush. "It's more like a cattle tag for us; pierced through the skin so we can't lose it when we shift our shape."

Without another word, he yanked it out of his ear, and looked back up at me with an excited grin.

"The last time I attempted that it gave me the shock of my life. The electrical current is gone."

All the other creatures in the arena also stopped what they were doing, and one by one, began ripping off their collars and tags.

When the demon looking creature eyed the fence around the arena, the crowd seemed to hush as if everyone was simultaneously holding their breath. Ever so slowly, the creature reached up to the metal caging. When he didn't immediately pull his hand down from shock, the crowd erupted in hysteric panic and raced for the exits.

I reflexively turned to Emmett, who happened to be standing a few feet from me, and he mouthed the words _'Up to you.'_

It was then that I looked around and realized that all the fighters were staring at me, waiting for me to make the call. It was a tough decision to be in command of others and ordering them to take people's lives, but it was my idea to get them all involved, and I needed to take responsibility for it.

I nodded once, and that was all they needed. Emmett and Jacob led the attack. They both jumped onto the cage, and immediately began tearing it down.

Despite the guards' feeble attempts at pushing them back with their taser poles, they were easily overtaken, and the fighters climbed their way into the stadium, increasing the crowd's frenzy tenfold.

There were no innocent people in that stadium, however I was slightly relieved to see the initial attack was directed squarely on the owners. Each creature focusing on their own personal vendettas, which was perfectly understandable.

In a panic, people rushed the exists, but our fighters were faster. It may have been a hypocritical thing to do, but I refrained from killing anyone, and made my way straight to my father. Even if he deserved it just as much as any other owner, I made the decision not let my father be harmed.

" _Bella!"_ he cried when I approached him. His lips were still bound, and the word came out more like a smooshed mumble, but I understood him nevertheless.

"We need to get you out of here," I told him in a rush.

I had no idea where to take him, but he certainly couldn't stay there. I pulled him through the mass hysteria, down to the fighting arena, and back to where the remaining creatures were being kept in their cells. I secured him in the very same cage I had been locked in with the vampires, and made sure he couldn't get out, but more importantly, no one else could get in. It only took a few minutes, but I figured out how to isolate the electricity just to his cell, thus releasing everyone else from theirs so they could all join the fight.

As I followed the crowd of creatures out, I was grabbed by a cowering Arostali, who appeared to be trying to make his escape through the back since all the other main exits were be blocked by the stampede of terrified humans.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed at me from his crouched position behind a post. "You and the vampires were supposed to kill all the other creatures before turning on the humans, _not team up with them!_ "

"You wanted us to kill all the ruthless owners and politicians, right?" I questioned calmly. Before he could respond, I continued. "That's exactly what we're doing."

Without any other warning, I stepped forward and reached for his neck. With very little effort, it snapped in my hands, and as his body fell limp to my feet, I felt empowered. My previous killings were done without me even realizing it, and I had been concerned that I wouldn't be able to do it when I was of sound mind. I was wrong, and my fears were unfounded. I wasn't afraid to kill, as long as it was justifiable in my own mind, and Arostali's death was definitely justified.

I continued moving towards the arena, and joined my friends in the killing field. Along the way, I just happened to stumble upon a few fumbling owners that I recognized, and I didn't even bat an eye at killing them. The entire auditorium was in shambled chaos, and the exits were all but blocked with bodies, most of which brought upon their own demise by attempting to force their way out by trampling over each other, but there were still many left to be massacred.

I happened to glance up and catch The Yankee himself, taking out the President of the United States, while a few others made quick work of his accompanying staff. Amidst the carnage, I also spotted several other world leaders being brutally slain, which for the most part, was well earned for all their misdeeds while in their respective tyrannical positions.

By the time the pre-set bell rang, signifying the end of the twenty-five minute battle, most of the human spectators were either dead, or had managed to escape the area. A couple of the creatures followed the survivors out to make sure they didn't get far, while a few others took advantage of the chaos by slipping out into the night, probably never to be seen again.

Things in the auditorium were starting to die down, literally, when suddenly a certain someone sauntered into the arena, accompanied by a small group of armed men.

"Very good," Renée said with a slow and steady clap. "You have done everything I asked of you. If I'm being honest, this is the proudest I have ever been as a mother."

One of the fighters besides me growled at her, but I put my hand up to stop him – to stop all of them. The men were too heavily armed, and even though there weren't many of them, their weapons would certainly take out some of us, and I'd rather that didn't happen if I could help it. There was only one way for us to beat them without any more unnecessary deaths, and that was to go straight for her.

"Mother," I greeted her stiffly. "We still have a long way to go before we reach world domination status."

"Of course we do. This was just the first step of many. I'm glad you were able to see it my way, and come to the understanding that your cooperation is the _only_ way. Oh, I know what it's like to be a rebellious teen. Why, it was only a little over a hundred years ago when I began acting out and tried to break free from my family's teachings as well. It was the wrong decision, and I'm so glad I came to my senses. Now, finish off the rest of these disgusting monsters, and then command the vampires back to their cages so we can transport them back to Alaska… Is that Arostali behind you?"

"He's pretty much dead," I replied evenly.

"Shame," she said emotionlessly. "He wasn't much, but he was always loyal. I suppose you'll just have to take on his duties."

"I have a better idea. How about we cut the bullshit, and get down to business? We both know I'm never going to do anything for you, you crazy-ass bitch!"

She smirked. "Sadly, I had a feeling you would say that. So, what happens now? You attack me, while your little pathetic monster gang takes out my men? Boring! How about we handle this like ladies?"

"What do you suggest?"

She took a step closer to me, and then leaned in like she had a secret. "We let the men fight for us." After a vile wink, she stepped back, and then theatrically announced, "Pick your champion!"

I laughed once. "So, we each put up our best fighters, and the loser forfeits, allowing the other to imprison them indefinitely?"

"Or, I can just have my men open fire on the lot of you," she offered snidely.

"Or, how about you and I fight," I retorted bitterly. "I know you're super old, but in modern times, women don't need men to fight for them."

"I agree, but despite your inferior breeding and being an all around disappointment, you are still my daughter, and I may have a hard time killing you… you know, for nostalgia purposes. Plus, you bare my mate's venom in your neck. That would make it next to impossible for me to attack you."

That did it. I was seeing red, and I didn't give two flying fucks about her excuses and bullshit reasoning for her not fighting me. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to rip her to shreds.

"I'll be her champion," Emmett stepped forward and volunteered unexpectedly. As he approached us, he stopped and grabbed ahold of my shoulders to look me square in the face. "Never fight in anger if you can avoid it. You need to keep a level head."

"Perfect. Edward!" she called. The shifter posing as Edward came out from the rubble in the arena, and smiled in a very un-Edward-like way.

Emmett also smiled. "I'm going to enjoy this. Sorry pup, your granddaddy is about to meet his maker," he said to Jacob.

The Edward look-a-like glanced at Jake, but didn't let his eyes linger, and quickly refocused on my mother as he waited for her instructions.

"Make it quick," Renée told him evenly.

Everyone backed up, and Emmett and the shifter began circling each other, but it was Emmett who struck first. His quick, powerful jab to the shifter's side, left a bloody gaping wound.

"We all know you're not really Edward, so why don't you shift into a shape that doesn't require so much of your concentration to hold?" Em suggested condescendingly. Before the shifter could respond, Em jabbed him again.

Edward's perfect features morphed in a demonic way, before a deafening growl erupted from deep inside his chest. Suddenly, his nose sprouted into a snout, and just like that, his glorious beauty was replaced by a monstrous hairy beast.

Like an abused dog forced to fight, the shifter used all if his aggressive rage to lunge at Emmett. They both wrestled around for a bit, but after a few choice cuss words from Em, it wasn't long before he had the shifter in a headlock. The poor creature kept trying to shift into all different shapes as he attempted to break free from Emmett's iron grasp, but it was of no use. Emmett was just too strong, and far more determined.

"He doesn't have to die!" Emmett shouted at Renée. "If you yield, this can be over right now."

"Correction, if _Bella_ yields this can be over right now," Renée countered.

"I can hold him like this forever, or snap his neck just as easily. He can't beat me," Em argued.

"Perhaps not, but the fight was never between you and this shifter, now was it?" she said smugly. "I called _Edward_ to be my champion. It's not my fault you began fighting this thing. Still, I'm bored of pretending like you imbeciles have a fighting chance. You there," she pointed at one of the armed men. "It's time."

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a nod, before pressing a button on his smartwatch.

"What the hell?" Em mumbled, voicing all our confusion when four doors opened around the arena - doors, we didn't even realize were there.

Emmett quickly hit the shifter on the side of the head, rendering him unconscious, and then let his body slump to the ground as we all waited for whatever the hell was coming for us next.

There was a brief moment of nothing, but then, like a herd of buffalo, in rushed a swarm of uniformed men from each direction. They had their guns drawn, and immediately began firing. Since I had released all the creatures from their cages, we still outnumbered them, however with their weapons, they made quick work of a couple dozen of us right away. Most ran to take cover, but through the haze of smoke that their weapons created, I saw something astronomically bewildering…

"Oh, my god," I mumbled in shock, but my voice was drowned out by the ambient noise.

I looked to my left, hoping Emmett or Rose would confirm what I was seeing, but they were too focused on trying to dodge the bullets. However, the air conditioning in the auditorium must have suddenly popped on, because both of them simultaneously turned towards the newest creature in the arena.

"Edward!" Rosalie cried.

"Holy mother of all fucks!" I heard Emmett add, echoing his mate's shock.

Edward's scent finally reached my nose as well, and I immediately discovered that even without realizing it, I had always known it. He smelled like _Edward_ …. I only wished he looked like him.

Gone was the perfect being I had always known him to be, and in his place stood a twisted and broken looking deranged monster. His skin was a purplish blue, and he had large protruding veins covering every inch of him. He was only dressed in a pair of ripped pants, and his chest and abdomen looked almost carved in, in a way I couldn't quite comprehend. His muscles were still there, but he almost looked like a plastic toy that had been stepped on. His hair was in a ratted mess that hung to his shoulders, and his nails were so overgrown that they looked more like claws.

 _What the hell did that bitch do to him?_

Not that any of that mattered. Edward was there, and I needed to get to him.

Without thinking, I reflexively began making my way across the arena, but a bullet whizzing within inches of my head was a harsh reminder that I was in an active battlefield, and I needed to be careful.

Apparently, Rosalie had the same idea I did, because as I was forced to duck behind a low wall, I could see her closing in on him. The moment she was within arm's length of her brother, took a sigh of relief – but the moment that followed was the most shocking yet.

"Oh my god!" I screeched as Edward hit his sister so hard that she went flying across the arena.

I never saw Emmett approaching, but somehow he snuck up behind Edward, and tried to restrain him, which only seemed to anger him. Looking more like The Incredible Hulk than a vampire, Edward growled ferociously and pushed against Em's arms. There was a deafening cracking sound that echoed around the stadium, and just like that, both of Emmett's arms shattered into pieces like glass in an explosion.

Edward didn't seem to care less. He didn't even bat an eye at his best friend and mentor's excruciating pain. Even without arms, Em refused to give up. He wrapped his legs around one of Edward's ankles, hoping to at least trip him or something, but with a swift stomp from his free foot, he shattered both of Emmett's legs.

By this time Rosalie had recovered herself, and now she was enraged. She attacked him with all her strength and capabilities, but it wasn't enough. She was going to get herself hurt just as Emmett had, so I tried like hell to get to her before she could do so.

As I spun around soldiers, and jumped over bodies, my multifaceted mind replayed the first time Edward drowned. Basically, he had been a tamer version of this new creature, which made sense, since he was in the water much longer this time. But in realizing that was what his issue had to be, I knew exactly how to stop him….


	39. Bent

**Chapter 39 – Bent**

I paused, only for a moment, and watched for an opening. With the passing of one more body flying through my intended path, I knew I had my chance. I didn't have a single doubt that I'd make it, but then…

"Don't go any closer!" someone shouted at me as I was pulled to a stop from behind. I turned, and unsurprisingly saw Garrett grasping my arm.

"That's Edward. I have to stop him!" I explained in a rush, while yanking my arm away from him.

"That thing is killing everyone!" he tried reasoning with me.

We both looked at Edward again, and that was when I noticed Rosalie's headless body by his feet. As much as I knew how terrible that was for her, I also knew she was fully capable of recovering. The poor demon creature that Edward just ripped in half, however, was not so lucky. Even still, I was not going to be deterred.

I turned back to my grandfather. "He won't hurt me," I said assuredly.

"What the hell makes you think that?" he snapped back. "Because he was your _boyfriend?_ That is not the same guy you loved before."

"His heart has stopped. He's like a zombie with super strength, running on pure instinct. I just need to calm him down so we can restart his heart," I pleaded.

"Bella, please listen to me, he will kill you before you can even say two words to him," he retorted. "You're not a full vampire. I don't know if you can reattach limbs the way we can."

"He won't hurt me," I repeated. "And I know that because this happened to him before… well, kind of, on a smaller scale. He was crazed then too, and he attacked someone, but he didn't attack me – not because he's my boyfriend, but because he's my mate."

"But he could be your mother's mate…"

"No!" I cut him off. "I was so stupid to ever question it. I couldn't feel him before because he was dead, but he _is_ my mate, and I _will_ bring him back."

"Not if he bares your mother's bite mark," Garrett argued. "Even if you are his true mate, he has her venom inside him, not yours. Because he is a hybrid and his heart still pumps blood through his veins, he must have spread her venom all throughout his body, therefore it's not just concentrated in his neck the way it is for vampires. I can only assume that hybrids' venom ties are even stronger than regular vampires as well. Too strong to ever hope to break. He will do her bidding until she is dead, especially while in this current state."

Garrett's words were horrifying. I never even considered that a hybrid's heartbeat would make their venom tie to their mate even stronger, but I suppose it made sense. Regardless of whether or not my mother was Edward's true mate, _which I was sure she wasn't,_ her hold on him was undoubtedly strong.

"Well, then I guess I need to kill her first," I said determinedly.

I looked around for Renée, and it seemed she had used the chaos to slip away. Fucking coward. Still, she couldn't have gone far. I began heading in the direction I assumed she went, but Garrett stopped me again.

"He will kill every last one of our allies by the time you find her. Look! The soldiers aren't even shooting anymore. They're just letting him massacre everyone."

"Then what do you suggest?" I asked, frustrated that we were wasting time with this discussion.

"Those of us left need to ban together to take him out. If we all attack at once, we may be able to kill him."

"He's already dead," I said through gritted teeth. "And I'm the only one who can bring him back to life."

"He won't be fully dead unless we decapitate and burn him," he argued apologetically. "I've never seen a monster like that before, but it's obvious that thing will destroy everyone and everything if it's not stopped."

"The only _monster_ who needs to be stopped, is _your_ daughter!" I snapped, before turning away from him.

I spun myself around and continued towards the auditorium exit, where I figured I'd search for my mother in the labs or her office, but I only made it a few steps. Despite thinking it was probably the more rational idea to take her out first, I just couldn't bring myself to leave Edward – not after being forced apart from him for so long.

I took Emmett's advice and turned off my brain, just long enough to use my evasion instincts in order to safely make it across the battle ring to where Edward was still raging.

Jacob, and his fellow shifters that I had released from their cell, were teaming up to create a supernatural wolf-pack. They had Edward somewhat surrounded, but they maintained a wide perimeter as a way to avoid his razor sharp claws that he kept swiping at them. They must have gotten in a few hits, because Edward was now bleeding in various locations on his abdomen and chest, not that it slowed him down. He probably didn't even feel it.

With his blood exposed to the air, however, I could definitely detect my mother's scent mixed amongst it. It was nauseating, and it fought against my desire to be near him, but my determination and love for him was still stronger, and I refused to back down.

I watched briefly as one of the wolves jumped on Edward's back, and when he tried to throw it off of him, the others attacked from all directions. I had an overwhelming innate desire to jump in and tear them all to shreds, in order to protect my mate, but somehow I fought off the feeling, and waited. It didn't last long. He had them all whimpering on the ground in only a few seconds, which made me feel better and worse at the same time.

Enough was enough, I had to stop him.

As the wolves recovered themselves as quickly as they were capable of, I stepped between them and attempted to force Edward to look at me.

"Edward, you need to sto…."

Before I had the chance to get all the words out, I found myself flying through the air, with a wound to my chest far deeper than corporeal.

He hit me.

 _Edward actually hit me._

He hit me so damn hard that I couldn't see straight for a good minute afterwards.

It hurt like hell, but the emotional blow was far more painful. A part of me never wanted to get back up again, but I forced my battered body up to my feet, and after taking a deep settling breath, I charged him again, not even pausing a fraction of a moment before leaping at him. This time, however, I got lucky and landed on his back as he was recovering from another attack by a shifter opposite of me.

I immediately wrapped my arms around his torso, my legs around his waist, and held on for fear life. It was the single most physically demanding thing I had ever done, and even with my full superhuman hybrid strength, I had a hard time holding on. However, being in contact with his skin, I had an advantage, I just had to concentrate.

"Edward, let me in," I cried when I could feel him mentally blocking my mind from going into his. I knew he was capable of that under normal circumstances, but in his current state I honestly didn't think he had the mental awareness it took.

After punching another attacking wolf like a wrecking ball to a stick fort, he tried to get me off of his back by throwing himself backwards into one of the stone walls.

With several loud cracks, I felt each of my ribs break, and several of my vertebrae fracture. The pain was suffocating, and I lost my grip on him, sending me falling once more, but this time I was left in a crumbled mess at the back of his feet. He didn't even turn to glance at me before he walked forward to re-engage his battle against the shifters.

I couldn't breathe.

Every time I tried to inhale, I was swallowed by immense pain. It was so sharp, and so severe, that I briefly forgot what it felt like to not be in pain.

"I know it's difficult, but just keep breathing," a gentle voice told me.

I looked up into a stranger's golden eyes, except he wasn't a stranger, not really anyway.

"Ca..Car…"

"It's ok, don't try to speak. Just keep taking small shallow breaths."

I nodded and did as I was told, and slowly but surely, each small breath got a little easier, until I felt the pain drain from my body.

"I'm okay now, I think," I said astonished by my rapid recovery.

"Hybrids are amazing," Carlisle agreed. "Let's get you up so we can move you out of harm's way."

I let him help me back to my feet, but I refused to go anywhere. "I have to stop him," I said determinedly. It didn't matter that Edward tried to crush me, I was still confident that I was the only one who could get through to him.

"I have this weapon that may be able to stop him, but it could potentially kill everyone within a fifty foot radius," Carlisle said unexpectedly. "I need you to take cover now, and if possible, call back the shifters, or I'm afraid they will die. Garrett said they're your friends? If so, they may listen to you, and I'd rather save their lives than let them be collateral damage."

I glanced behind Carlisle, and saw Garrett standing there, seemingly keeping watch. He must have gone to find him and brought him back. I was grateful for the help, but I wasn't so easily convinced.

"How do you know that thing won't kill Edward?" I asked Carlisle while looking at the cannon looking weapon tucked under one of his arms.

Carlisle looked past me, took a deep breath, and then his forlorn eyes returned to mine. "I don't know if this will kill him or not. It's the most powerful weapon I've ever invented, so… it's possible."

"How could you be willing to take that risk?" I asked appalled. "He is your son!"

"And as his father, I am responsible for him," he argued gently. "This has always been my greatest fear," he admitted while looking back at him once more. "And I always knew I would have to be the one to destroy him if it ever came down to this. He was…" he paused as his emotions overtook him. "He was such a sweet child. I thought my fears were unfounded. I blame myself for not finding a way to protect him. Renée assured me he was safe, she said he was just like her and that she would raise him properly if I continued to work for her. I should have known better…"

"My mother never had control of Edward until recently. He was a fighter for the Swans. She's lied to you about everything!" I told him angrily. "She never helped him; in fact, she was the one who did this to him. He was fine before her, and he can be fine again if we just get his heart restarted. I know what to do, and I'm begging you both to help me. If we can save him from this thing he's become, then you don't have to hurt him with that, and I know he will help us stop Renée."

"Bella, it's too dangerous," Garrett interjected. "Look what he did to you."

"Is this his mark on you?" Carlisle asked me softly while carefully looking at my neck.

"Yes, he is my mate!"

"Then why did he attack you?" Carlisle questioned. His tone wasn't that of disbelief the way Garrett's had been, it was more like he was hypothesizing in his own mind.

"My mark isn't on him," I explained, failing to keep the resentment I felt about it out of my tone. "I was only human when I bit him… well, I guess I was never _only_ human, but my vampire side was dormant. Now my mother bit him, so…"

"So, he is being controlled by her," Carlisle understood. "But the bond of mates goes far deeper than venom," he said, basically contradicting Garrett's concerns. Carlisle was choosing to believe that the venom tie could be overcome, and I had to believe it too. "I have an idea," he continued, "but it will only work if you are absolutely sure you're his true mate."

"I am," I said confidently, despite the tiniest fraction of a doubt I was trying to bury.

"If you're not, this may kill you," he warned.

"Whatever it is has to be better than you shooting him with that thing," I told him.

"Shooting him would not result in _your_ death," Garrett rebutted.

"You couldn't be more wrong," I told him. "Edward is my mate. Losing him would be worse than death."

"The venom bond is too strong!" Garrett argued again. "In this instance, denying that bond is suicide."

I shook my head in disagreement, and turned to Carlisle. "Tell me what to do."

After a quick discussion, we set the plan in action. My physicality was different since awakening my inner-vampire, but it should still work, and I was both excited and terrified at the same time.

Without any other vampires left to help us, Garrett's role was vital, and as much as he hated doing it, he reluctantly agreed.

"Are you ready?" I asked him.

He sighed heavily. "I will have to kill him if this thing goes awry."

"No, you won't," I disagreed gently. "If he doesn't react the way we hope, we're all going to end up dead."

"Are you sure it's worth the risk?" Garrett asked one more time.

"Absolutely," I replied without a doubt.

"Okay, let's get this over with," he grumbled.

I looked to Carlisle, who was standing off in the distance with his weapon readied, and we both nodded at each other as a cue to begin.

"Garrett," I said, needing to tell him one last thing just in case one or both of us ended up dead. "Thank you," murmured sincerely. He didn't like any aspect of the plan, but he was doing it for me, and I appreciated it more than words could properly describe.

He stared at me for a moment, and then nodded once, before leaning forward and kissing my forehead. "I wish we had more time together."

"We will," I tried reassuring both of us. "When this is over, we will have all the time in the world."

We embraced, but it was brief – we needed to be in action before Edward had a chance to hurt anyone else.

We moved closer to where Edward was continuing his faceoff with the shifters, and then I tilted my head to expose my neck. "Do it."

He bared his teeth, but he hesitated.

"Come on!" I hissed at him.

"I can't," he said apologetically.

"You're not really going to bite me; you just need to lean in and pretend. He will sense it and attack you, so we can subdue him with the electrified collar long enough to get through to him. That's the entire plan. You said you would help!"

"The very purpose of a mating mark is to repel other vampires," Garrett reminded me. "I thought I could fight through it, but it's much harder than I expected."

"Just try!" I cried, knowing it was our last chance to save Edward.

Garrett grimaced, but he reluctantly complied and leaned in closer to me, then we both waited. When Edward didn't even take the smallest of interest in us, I knew we needed to do something more drastic.

"You need to draw my blood!" I demanded.

"Absolutely not," Garrett denied while taking a step away from me.

"You have to!" I begged. "It's our only chance. Please."

The desperation on my face must have gotten to him. He looked absolutely pained, but he stepped forward and slowly raised both his hands to my neck. With a sharp, quick slash of his nail, he made the smallest cut right over Edward's bite mark. It only bled the tiniest amount, but it was mixed with enough of Edward's stored venom, which he was able to sense as an extension of himself.

His eyes immediately left the shifters around him, and fixated on us. Garrett, an unknown vampire to Edward, was far too close to me, and Edward was sure as hell not going to allow it. With a single bound, Edward leapt over the shifters, and right for us. He knocked Garrett and me both over as he landed, and he immediately tore Garrett's head clean from his shoulders.

I gasped as Garrett's lifeless body pinned me to the ground, but I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, in an attempt to quiet my heavy breathing. The beast that used to be Edward, crouched down over Garrett's torso, and slowly crawled forward so his nose was within inches of my neck. He smelled me, and must have smelled himself, which made him cock his head to the side in animalistic confusion.

My focus was momentarily diverted to Carlisle, who had snuck up behind Edward with the collar in his hands. Without even losing focus on me, Edward must have sensed him, so he shockingly swiped behind himself, sending Carlisle flying backwards across the auditorium.

"Edw..Edward. Please," I whispered, unable to speak any louder due to the amount of pressure on my chest from Garrett's body on me, and Edward on it.

Again, he cocked his head to the side. His movements were jerky, and his blank stare almost seemed to be flickering with faint knowledge. He didn't remember me…but he wanted to.

I only had one hand free from being pinned to the ground, so I used it to slowly reach up towards Edward's face. When he noticed that hand in his peripheral vision, he let out a low warning growl.

"It's ok," I cooed. "Everything is going to be okay," I told him before gently stroking his jaw. He flinched at my touch, but as I continued soft caresses all over his face, he seemed to relax just enough to finally let me in.

The moment my hand came to rest on his cheek, I found myself falling into the darkness of his mind….

 _It was all black. Black water. Black nothingness. I struggled to breathe, both in the reality of my pinned body, but also mentally, as my consciousness was swimming through his; searching tirelessly for the Edward I knew was still in there somewhere. It felt like hours, even though I knew it was probably only mere moments. I felt physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted as I continued to swim through the seemingly endless abyss of his psyche, but I would not give up. He was there, and the longer I swam, the surer I became._

 _The connection between us did not break, it was only bent and twisted in a way that was hard to navigate through, but I would not rest until we had it all straight again._

 _So much water._

 _So much darkness._

 _And then there was a flicker in the distance._

 _It was just the smallest flicker in an endless sea of darkness – like a candle in the midnight ocean, but it was enough. The moment I saw it, I just started swimming. With all my strength, and determination, and pain, and love; I even used my hate to drive me forward._

 _By the time I neared the light, my energy was failing me, and I feared I'd drown before I got there. It truly felt like that moment when you've held your breath almost too long, and you begin to panic. He was so close, and the light was almost within reach, but it was just beyond my depth of strength to swim any further._

 _My consciousness darkened as his ocean began to swallow me, and I knew I was dying. Whether it was the death of my physical body, or the demise of my heart and soul, I wasn't sure, but I knew, without a doubt, it wasn't something I could possibly recover from. I was going to die, and as I accepted that truth, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace. Edward was there… somewhere, and in the end, there wasn't anything more I could ask for._

 _As I felt myself begin to fade away, the last thing I saw was Edward's light. Edward's light, that somehow morphed into his perfect face. His perfect face, that didn't look at peace the way I was feeling, which only made my sense of peace turn into dread. Dread, that forced me to hang on just a few moments longer._

 _Edward's eyes locked to mine, and the look of terror radiated from him. He knew me, and he knew I had only seconds left._

'Edward _,' I mouthed, unable to actually find my voice._ 'I love you _,' I added, hoping that whatever happened next, wherever he went, however long we would be apart, he would know that my love for him would never falter._

 _Edward's horrified face immediately morphed into determination, and then he reached out and grabbed me. The moment his hand touched my skin, all the water suddenly drained out from around us, and I was catapulted back into reality…_

"Oh my…Edwa…Edward…" I panted as I tried to get up from under Garrett's body.

"It's okay," Carlisle said gently as he appeared by my side, and quickly pulled my grandfather off of me.

"Ed..Edwa…Ed-ward…"

"He just suddenly fell over, and now he appears to be unconscious," Carlisle explained while helping me up to a seated position. "Do you have some kind of offensive gift?" he questioned me. "You touched his face, and then he collapsed."

"Nnno… No, he nee… he needs his h-heart restarted," I tried to explain through my trembling huffs. "El…Eleazar did… C…CPR or something la…last time."

Carlisle stilled as he appeared to be listening to something, and then he nodded. "I think you're right. His heart isn't beating."

Thankfully, Carlisle seemed to know what to do from there. Just as Eleazar did the last time Edward drowned, he began doing chest compressions, and even blew into his mouth a few times. "Come on, son," he whispered desperately, which was as utterly heartbreaking as it was encouraging. Carlisle would fix him, I just knew he would.

It seemed to take forever, but then a river of water poured out of Edward's mouth, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"He needs blood," I told Carlisle, remembering what Eleazar had done before.

Carlisle glanced around the arena, looking somewhat lost, so I nudged him aside, and then used my teeth to open a gash on my wrist. There was no tube to stick down his throat this time; this time my blood would go from my vein, straight to his mouth. We had to lean his head back so he would swallow it, but as soon as a little got into his stomach, his color immediately began to improve.

"It's working," I told him emotionally, finally feeling like I could breathe a little easier.

"It is, but you need to stop now, or you'll need a blood transfusion yourself," Carlisle said, full of hope for his son, as well as concern for me.

I reluctantly pulled my hand away, and then Carlisle checked his vitals. "He's stabilizing."

I knew it would take some time for Edward to regain consciousness, but I couldn't bear the thought of leaving his side, despite needing to go find my mother to execute.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, my mother decided to return to the arena all on her own. She walked in like she owned the place – carelessly stepping over bodies, and not even batting an eye at the fighters who remained. A few of the creatures attempted to charge her, but a new crew flashed by her side, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, and they surrounded her in a protective barrier as she continued her stride. When the monsters still tried to advance on them, the men defended themselves with inhuman capabilities. They were supernaturally fast and strong, and when they grew bored with the attacking monsters, they open fired with their weapons, thus reducing our numbers even more.

Something made me look at Jacob, who was several yards away. He met my stare, and even without words I knew he wanted to lead the shifters in another attack on my mother and her men. He just didn't know how to give up, but after witnessing what they just did to the other creatures, I quickly shook my head no. They were too strong, and even if the shifters could beat them in an unarmed battle, their guns made it impossible for them to get close enough to try.

Not only was there several unnaturally superhuman men protecting my mother, but then even more men poured into the arena like a wave in the ocean, and they completely surrounded us with their guns drawn. Most of our allies were already dead or incapacitated, so my mother's pompous expression said it all. She was sure she had won, and at that point, I couldn't see a way to beat her. I wasn't stupid enough to continue the fight when our victory wasn't possible, but there was still one last glimmer of hope, and it rested solely on the hybrid lying in front of me. The hybrid, that was just beginning to stir…


	40. Choices

**Chapter 40 – Choices**

"Well, I have to admit, I'm impressed… and thoroughly disappointed," Renée said as she looked down at Edward, who was still lying on the floor. "And here I thought my mate was unbeatable. You, on the other hand, are much stronger than I expected."

"I guess my inferior breeding isn't so inferior after all," I replied scornfully.

She snorted. "So, how did you do it? Electrocution mixed with water? That is the only combination that I've found that even weakens him. Funny, he doesn't look wet."

"Why would you _ever_ try to weaken your so-called mate?" I asked, angry and just plain dumbfounded. I doubt I'd ever cease to be shocked that anyone could be that evil, let alone my mother.

"Without learning one's weakness, you will never know what to avoid," she replied evenly. "Now tell me, what did you do to him?"

"I've only ever just loved him," I admitted sincerely.

"Love is weakness," she retorted.

"It's your lack of love that's your weakness," I disagreed.

"I have no weaknesses," she denied. "Look around, dear child. I won this battle, and I will continue winning until I reach my ultimate goal. Captain, have the men restrain the shifters, as well as the couple of creatures that are hiding over there," she ordered the man standing closest to her.

I watched as several men circled Jake and his friends, and despite their low growls, they grudgingly allowed them to escort them to the back cells.

"Now, what to do with you?" Renée questioned, tapping her tooth and circling me as she considered it. But then something caught her eye. "Why, Carlisle, what on Earth are you doing out of the lab?"

"I was just trying to contain my son," he said bitterly. "I was told he was out of control."

"Ah, I see, so you used that weapon on him," she said while eyeing the cannon looking gun in Carlisle's hands as he held it pointing at her. She wasn't concerned. "I'm surprised anyone is left alive in this arena after such a blast. Perhaps you're not as good of a scientist as I was hoping."

"My weapon is exactly what I claimed it was. I had everyone back away," Carlisle lied.

"I see. It seems the blast restarted his heart. I suppose that's good to know. Thank you for your help, Mr. Cullen, you may go back to the lab now."

Carlisle said something back to her, but I stopped paying attention. I was seeing red, and despite encouraging Jacob to stand down, I knew I couldn't leave that arena without attacking my mother.

The world around me seemed to slow as I surveyed my surroundings. My mother's men appeared to be relaxed in their victory, so I figured I may have just enough time to reach her before they shot at me. Somewhere in the back of my subconscious mind I knew this move would probably cost me my life, but in that moment of rage, I just didn't care.

I hardly made my decision to attack before I was already leaping for her. I was only a couple of yards away, but in my slowed altered state of mind, it felt like I was flying. I could envision her throat in my hands before I even made contact with her skin… it was a vision that would never come to fruition.

I didn't see him move, but I certainly felt the moment he caught me by the neck mid-jump, rendering me completely stunned.

"Edward," I gasped.

Renée chuckled darkly as she stepped out from behind Edward. "Oh, dear sweet child. Did you really think my mate would allow you to attack me?"

If I could've spit at her, I would have, but from that position I couldn't do much of anything except grieve my loss. Edward really was gone, and there was nothing more I could do to bring him back to me. It was utterly excruciating.

"Just get it over with," I demanded, not wanting to dwell in my misery any longer. At that point, death could only be merciful.

I couldn't look at Edward, not when I knew he was about to end my life, but I still noticed when he turned back to my mother to wait for her command.

"That is enough!" I heard Carlisle shout from behind me. "Edward, son, you have to stop this. Look at what you're doing to that poor girl. You can't keep listening to Renée. She is just using you!"

"How dare you speak out against me!" Renée hissed at him. "I have protected you for all these years. I made sure my family didn't sell you, or force you to fight. This is the thanks I get?"

"You only did that because you needed me!" he retorted. "You knew I was your best hope at finding a way to infuse human cells with vampire DNA. And the _only_ reason why I cooperated for so long is because you ensured me that my family was safe. You are a lying heinous bitch, and I will not allow you to control me for a moment longer. Especially not after I've seen what you have done to my son!"

"Edward, is my mate, which is an even stronger bond than family. He was born to follow me, and if you don't like it, you can go to hell. I no longer need you," she said evilly before signaling one of her men to apprehend him.

"Come near me and I will fire," Carlisle warned them while flipping a switch on his weapon. The men stopped advancing on him, but Carlisle wasn't finished just yet. "Son, listen to me," he tried reasoning with Edward, allowing his tone to soften. "She is lying to you. She is controlling you through her bite mark. If she was really your mate, you would have bitten her in return."

"Of course I didn't allow him to bite me," Renée retorted defensively. "That would only make us equals as mates, and that simply doesn't work. Like any relationship, there always needs to be a dominant one, and for us, the dominant one is me. He _obeys_ me, and he will continue to do my bidding for the rest of our days. Did you really think restarting his heart would change anything?" She laughed once. "Now Carlisle, put down your weapon. We both know you won't actually fire it. It would not only kill me and my men, but your son as well. You haven't worked this long to keep him safe, only to destroy him like that."

"It would be a pain I would never recover from, but I will kill him if I have to. I will kill everyone in this building in order to stop you."

"I don't believe you," she sneered.

"You have nothing left to hold over me, Renée. You have already taken my entire family from me. Seeing Edward holding the neck of the girl he loves proves that. That's not my son anymore, and I know now he's not coming back."

"What makes you think he ever loved her? Because she said he did? Let me tell you something about my daughter, she is nothing but a degenerate like her father. Disgusting creatures, the both of them."

"I know he loved her because she bears his mark. That mark is the physical representation of a choice. He chose to bite her of his own free will, which he clearly never did on you!"

"When you let inferior monsters make their own choices, the world crumbles," she said evenly. "Choices should only belong to the supreme beings, and Carlisle, my old friend, there is no being more supreme than me. Edward, break her neck, and then take her body back to the cells."

My eyes reflexively locked on Edward's for the first time since his heart restarted, and what I saw staring back at me was shocking. Gone, was the blank stare of the monster he had become; now the emotion radiating out of him was pure pain. He did not want to hurt me, in fact, hurting me was torturing him, but he didn't seem to be able to stop.

"Edward, now!" my mother commanded.

"Edward," I whispered, just wanting to ease his suffering. There was no greater pain for me than seeing Edward in pain, and I needed to help him in any way I could, even if it was just relieving his conscience right before he was forced to kill me. "It's okay. Everything is okay. I love you… and I forgive you."

Tears began pouring from his eyes, but his grip never loosened on my neck as his entire arm began to tremble.

"It's okay," I repeated softly.

He subtly shook his head as his instincts to serve my mother raged against his love for me. It was torture. Torture for him, and torture for me, but I was still desperate to help him any way that I could.

"It's okay," I said one more time.

But then something in his face changed. His pain receded, and its wake was resolution.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

I took a deep breath, before nodding once, and the closing my eyes to brace myself for what was about to come.

Suddenly a gust of wind hit me from below, blowing my hair up around my face. I didn't even realize I was falling until my ass hit the ground, and a blur of color whizzed passed me. Not even my super-senses could keep up with the speed that he moved, and the next thing I knew, there was a quiet snap that seemed to echo around the room.

I jumped back up, and spun around just in time to see my mother's body fall limp to Edward's feet.

My hands automatically reached up to cover my mouth as I stared at the scene before me. It was almost disorienting how fast everything changed, and I was left reeling in discombobulation.

 _Did Edward really just kill my mother?_

My eyes left my mother's body and fixated on Edward, who was staring down at her in just as much shock as I was feeling.

Everything felt numb, and even my mind was too blank to consider where we would go from there.

After several long beats of silence passed, Edward's eyes lifted to meet mine, and we shared an indescribable moment. Was it sorrow? Pain? Regret? Love? Perhaps a little of all of them. Still, something felt off, or even missing, and I couldn't quite understand it. But whatever the hell was causing that feeling, was forcing me to keep my stance right where I was, and not close the space between us like I wanted to deep down.

It was Carlisle who broke the tension and spoke first. "Son," he muttered carefully as he approached him.

Edward flinched at the sound of Carlisle's voice, and when he tore his eyes from mine to look at his father, his expression changed to mistrust.

"Edward… do you know who I am?" he asked him gently. "I'm your father. I know it's been a long time, but everything is going to be okay now."

The faint buzzing sound of the bullets in the guns pointed at us, contradicted Carlisle's words.

"Step back now!" one of the men yelled at Carlisle.

Carlisle slowly put his weapon down, and then raised his hands in surrender as he took a step away from Edward.

"Take the body to the infirmary to fix her neck," the man ordered, making me realize the harsh reality that my mother's tyranny wasn't quite over just yet. "There's going to be hell to pay when she wakes up. You better come up with a good explanation for this," he warned Edward.

"No," Edward replied emotionlessly. "You won't take her to be fixed. Go get the hot box."

"Sir?" the man questioned.

"You heard me. Go," Edward insisted. "And take all the other men with you."

The man stared at him for a brief moment, but then surprisingly nodded his head. "Yes sir." He made a whistle noise, before twirling his finger in the air, and then retreating with every last armed soldier following close behind him.

"Where are they going?" Carlisle asked warily.

"To get the hot box," Edward replied, as if the answer was obvious.

Carlisle was about to reiterate his question, but there was no need. A much smaller troop of soldiers came right back into the arena, and were carrying what could only be described as a large metal chest.

The men each looked to Edward as they set the chest down and opened the lid. When he nodded, the men lifted my mother's body, and placed her inside, before locking it shut and flipping a switch that created an electrical current running around it.

"Take it away," Edward demanded.

"Sir," the men agreed, before heading to the exit.

"Wait," Edward called after them. "Send out all of the scientists from the labs. I need them in here immediately."

The men nodded, and then disappeared around the bend.

"They listen to you?" Carlisle questioned hesitantly. "Why? When we made the serum, we figured they would always be loyal to Renée, since it was her DNA that we introduced into them."

"It wasn't her DNA, it was mine. Why the hell do you think she wanted me so badly?" Edward replied evenly. "She wasn't human enough herself. Her mother's DNA was tainted from all the other creature cells she had injected into herself before she had her. That's why it wasn't working for so long. Renée's human blood wasn't pure. She needed me. The only hybrid that is purely half vampire, and half human, with no alterations."

"She said she needed you because you were her mate," I interjected, somehow finding my voice despite still feeling numb with bewilderment.

Edward looked back at me, but he quickly looked away. "How many of these bodies can be put back together?"

"The vampires can be… but some of them are in dozens of pieces. It will take a long time," Carlisle said with a sigh.

"I need you to lead the scientist in that task," Edward told his father.

"Of course," Carlisle readily agreed, and then he got emotional. "Edward... it's been such a long time since I saw you last. My son…" He reached to embrace him, but Edward took a step back.

"Don't put your arms around me," Edward warned him. "My instincts are too strong right now. I'd tear you in half."

Carlisle looked devastated, but he nodded in understanding. "Okay. Perhaps in time. I just can't believe I'm actually standing besides you right now. How I've longed for this moment. I tried imagining you all grown up, but I suppose I always pictured you as the little boy you were the last time I saw you."

"I'm not that innocent child anymore," Edward told him. "But your child that hasn't changed is over there. I don't remember much about what happened, but I'm pretty sure I beheaded her. You should take your emotional reunion to her."

Carlisle looked like Edward just slapped him across the face, but rather than voice his hurt, he took a step back, and then reluctantly turned to go see if he could help Rosalie.

"You don't have to be cruel to him," I mumbled awkwardly.

He grimaced at me. "Yes, I do."

I opened my mouth to respond, but I had no idea what to say. My body felt strangely paralyzed. I wanted to jump in his arms, and thank god and all things holy that he overcame my mother and we could be together, but I was stuck. I couldn't move, and I couldn't find the proper words to say to him. None of it made sense, and I didn't know how to fix it.

When some of the soldiers returned, with all the scientists trailing behind them, Edward directed them on what to do. They surveyed each of the bodies strewn about the arena floor, and the scientist got right to work putting the vampires back together again.

Seeing Emmett was by far the hardest, and he would be the most difficult to reconstruct as well. Not only were both his arms shattered, and his legs broken, but it looked like his face had also been stomped on at one point. His jaw was completely detached, which I suppose explained why he stopped shouting. It was tough to look at, and I could only imagine the guilt Edward must have felt… except, he didn't. He didn't seem to feel anything about any of it.

When the scientists on the arena floor had their instructions, Edward told the soldiers to clean up the bodies that couldn't be resurrected. The monster fighters were to be burned, and the dead humans in the stadium were to be moved to a different location where a cover story would be made up for so many deaths. It would probably end up being some kind of falsified terrorist attack since so many world leaders were involved.

When everyone had their orders, and the auditorium was busy in a controlled chaos, I found myself feeling lost. My vampire family was on their way to being fixed, but I never felt more alone. I had lost my focus on Edward only for a moment, but when I tried to locate him again, he had disappeared.

I rushed through the crowd frantically, but he was nowhere to be found. My heart began to race, and suddenly I felt that familiar sensation of water once again.

"No!" I said, starting to panic. A vision of that water tank he had been locked in flashed before my eyes, so I automatically took off running.

I must have gone on autopilot, since I didn't even remember how to get there, but soon enough, I found myself standing in front of my mother's office. Her scent flowed out from under the door in a wave, which frightened and disgusted me at the same time. Her despicable behavior towards me and my loved ones had altered me to the core. I loathed her, but I also feared her above all others, which made me instinctively want to run in the opposite direction. She was my greatest foe, my most dangerous adversary, but somehow, I fought off the feeling. I could also smell Edward in there, and the sensation of wetness increased tenfold. I absolutely had to get to him.

After slowly turning the handle, I pushed open the door and peeked inside. Thankfully, I didn't see my mother, but I did see Edward, and surprisingly he wasn't wet. He was just sitting next to the empty water tank, staring blankly ahead of him. He didn't even seem to notice me as I walked in.

"Don't do it," I said to him quietly, yet intensely. "Edward, you can't. Not again."

He looked up at me finally, and he was clearly perturbed. "What are you talking about?"

"I know what you're thinking, and you just better not."

"So, you're a mind reader now?" he scoffed. "Is that one of your hybrid gifts?"

"No, I can't read your mind, but I know what you're feeling, and I'm asking you to not do it."

"You don't know anything," he grumbled, before getting up and walking over to the computer on the desk. He began hitting buttons on the keyboard with his overgrown nails, but it was time to talk, so I crossed the room to be closer to him. My mother's scent increased the closer I got, which was distracting, but I couldn't let it stop me.

"Edward, I know you're considering drowning yourself again," I told him as strongly as I was capable of, despite the words being painful as they exited my lips.

He looked at me surprised. "How…"

"You're thinking about it, and you can feel the torture of it just as clearly as if you were actually in there now. I can't read your mind, Edward, but I can _feel_ your pain as you consider doing that to yourself again, because we are connected in that way, and we always will be."

He sighed, and then walked back to the tank. "Everyone is better off when I'm under water," he mumbled, almost incoherently.

"That's not true," I whispered, feeling gutted by his words. "Edward, what happened, everything you did… none of it was your fault. My mother…"

"Your mother controlled me through her venom," he finished for me.

I nodded in agreement.

"She bit me so she could control the soldiers through me," he continued. "And it worked. I did everything she wanted me to, and even now, with her lifeless body in that box, I find myself wanting to let her out and fix her neck."

"You do?" I asked, feeling like he just stabbed me in the chest.

"The venom tie is strong, too strong, and that makes me dangerous."

"But you fought through it," I argued, trying to let my anger bury the hurt his words caused. "You didn't obey her order to kill me, so how can you say it's too strong?"

"I didn't kill you, because you are my mate. I couldn't kill you even if I wanted to."

A tear escaped down my cheek, but I wiped it away. "You still believe I'm your mate?"

"It's not a belief, Bella, it's a fact. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Renée said she was your mate."

He looked disturbed. "And you believed her? How could you believe something like that?"

"You didn't just protect me, you protected her too. You protected her by restraining me by my neck."

"I had to stop you. I was compelled to by her venom."

"But you're sure she's not your mate?" I asked, feeling helplessly confused.

"Of course she isn't, because all of this would be so much easier if she was. I would just be completely loyal to her, and I wouldn't even think twice about it... This was never meant to happen, Bella. Vampires aren't meant to be bit in the neck by anyone other than their mate. It's seriously fucking with my head in a way I can't seem to shake. It's like I'm nothing but a puppet, and even when she is lifeless in a damn box, she's still pulling all the strings, making me act and say things I normally wouldn't; but underneath all that, deep inside, I _know_ I belong with you. My body and soul are in this epic battle, and its tearing me to pieces. I never knew a venom tie could be this powerful, and it scares the hell out of me. If she can control me the way that she has, what is my venom doing to you?"

"What?" I asked, baffled by his last sentence.

"It's terrifying," he continued. "I don't even remember everything I did in that arena, but I know I killed and hurt a lot of people. If she could control me like that just through her venom, how do I know I haven't done the same to you? Or that I won't do the same to you in the future? The venom sharing thing is disgusting, and I wish I never bit you."

"The difference between a legitimate mating bite, and an evil bitch forcing her bite against your will, is astronomical," I argued. "A mating bite is a mutual choice. Mates don't control each-other, because they are each-other's perfect match. They don't have to force their mate to do anything, because they have the same desires and wants. They're each other's equals. It's not supposed to be one sided. Don't you understand that?"

"Maybe you're right," he conceded. "But it doesn't matter now. The damage is already done. I already have her venom in me, and I can't change it. I hurt everyone I have ever cared about. You. My family. You're all suffering because of me, and there is a part of me that doesn't even care - that maybe enjoys it a little too much. I don't want to feel like this. I don't want to hurt anyone, but her venom is too strong."

"You just have to keep fighting it," I insisted. "You're not only ruled by your vampire instincts, you're human too. You can overcome those instincts. You already have. You just need to keep working on it, even if it takes forever."

Edward unexpectedly closed the distance between us, and he stood as close to me as possible without touching me. "What do you feel?"

"You," I said automatically, but then I had an overwhelming feeling of hate as I also felt my mother radiating off of him. I tried to ignore it, but it was too strong, and I was forced to back away from him.

"See?" he said bitterly. "She is inside of me. She bit me before putting me in the tank. It took the shifter, Chelsea, and my mother, all holding me down for her to do it. Then she let my heart pump her venom through my body, before drowning me in the tank. Once my heart stopped, that venom coagulated and infused in my cells. I can't get rid of her, regardless of how much I want to."

"Vampires are driven by instincts, but over time, even vampires have learned to overcome certain instincts," I reiterated. "Humans… humans have basically lost all their natural instincts over the centuries. They have buried them so deep that most humans couldn't even survive without modern technology. You're half human, you can bury that instinct too. Go back to the human diet. We both will. We don't have to be like this."

"It will always be there," he disagreed quietly. "Haunting us, in every aspect of our lives. It will seep into our dreams until it drives us both mad."

"So where do we go from here?" I asked just as quietly.

"I don't know. We need to take her body somewhere. Find a place no one can set her free."

"We could throw her into an active volcano," I suggested casually.

"Bella… I can't do that. I physically can't."

"You don't have to; I will happily end the bitch."

He shook his head no.

Rather than push the subject, I came up with a different and far less desirable idea. "Fine, we will take her to prison. We have all these super-human soldiers now, they can be our supernatural police, for any creature who breaks any kind of law that we create. The facility in Alaska will be the prison. Renée will be the first inmate. The first inmate with a broken neck that is also contained in an electrified box so she can never even dream about escaping."

He considered it for a moment, and then nodded.

"But her venom hold on you will make you want to follow her, won't it?" I realized as I watched the dread plague his features.

"I deserve to be in that prison too after everything I've done."

"Edward, I need you with me," I whispered.

"I need to be with you too," he murmured. "But I don't know how to get past this," he said pointing to his neck. "And to get past the things that I've done. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"You're my mate. The only way you would hurt me is by leaving me," I retorted. "I don't understand how you can even consider leaving. We belong together."

"Mates separate," he disagreed. "My father left his mate. As long as they agree, and they both know that someday they will find their way back to each other, they can get through that separation. I need to pay my dues for what I've done, and I need to…" He let his words trail off.

"Why does her venom pull on you stronger than our mating bond?" I questioned angrily. "It doesn't make sense."

"Because the venom tie is the physical manifestation of the spiritual bond. I don't have a spiritual bond with her, but because she was similar to you physically, and she actually bit me, I can't physically break free from it. I don't know how to fix it, or to make it disappear. My heart and my soul will always belong to you, but I can't…" He let his words trail off again.

"Fine," I said, wiping my now angry tears away. "You're right, you should go. And you were also right when you showed me that I don't want to be with someone tied to my evil bitch of a mother. Not when that someone is too much of a coward to even try to fight it."

"You don't understand…"

"No, I understand perfectly. It's hard to overcome that physical tie. Trust me, I know, I still feel it for you, so I get it… But I'm going to deny that feeling, and turn around and walk away from you. Because I can. Because I have enough humanity in me to do whatever the hell I want, and I absolutely refuse to allow any kind of supernatural instinct to control me. It's a shame you're not strong enough to do that too."

I didn't wait for a response, I just turned around and headed for the door. Each step I took away from him was excruciating, especially knowing he was probably still in shock from everything that had happened. Hell, he was dead only a few hours ago, but I couldn't wait for him to figure it all out either. Standing there listening to him maintaining his unyielding tie to my mother was nauseating, and it was as infuriating as it was hurtful. I had no doubt that he would eventually come to his senses and overcome the feeling, I just had no idea how long it would take. Of course, I certainly wasn't expecting it to be immediate…

"Bella wait!" he called after me. My hand hadn't even reached the door handle before he stopped me, but my heart raced and my gut twisted not knowing what he was about to say.

My stubbornness almost made me keep walking, but I managed to fight that feeling as well. I turned back to him slowly, and waited to hear what he had to say.

We both just stared at each other for several long moments, and then his hand abruptly lifted to the spot on his neck where my mother's mark was. I still wasn't sure what he was about to do, but when his claws dug in to his skin it became clear.

I gasped as the strong scent of his blood, mixed with my mother's, filled the air. I had to cover my mouth and my nose to stop myself from not only smelling it, but also crying out as the blood poured from him like an open faucet.

"I think I need someone to trim these for me," he said while holding his blood covered nails up.

"You're bleeding too much," I said concerned as the blood just kept draining from his neck.

"It all needs to come out," he replied with his voice weakening. When the blood flow began to slow as his super-healing closed the wound, he used his nails to re-open it.

"Losing that much blood will just make your heart stop again," I said anxiously.

"It's okay," he mumbled while opening his wound once more, before stumbling backwards until he was leaning against the wall. "I just need her out of me."

I watched him for another moment, but as his color paled, I knew there had to be another way. Thankfully, not all vampire instincts were bad. Without even taking a moment to think it through, I threw myself over him, and my teeth automatically clamped down over his gash.

His blood was repulsive; it had too much of my mother in it, but I refused to back off. When I felt his teeth clamp down onto my neck in return, something miraculous happened – my blood went into him, and as his blood continued to pour into my mouth, it began to taste more and more like untainted Edward…. well, untainted Edward mixed with me.

With the addition of my blood in his system, his neck wound began to close around my teeth, and the only blood that escaped him was going straight into me. If there was still a trace of my mother left in him, it was now diluted into the both of us. Together we would share that burden, and ease it in a way that would become manageable until it was completely gone from the both of us.

I wasn't sure how long we stayed attached like that, but it didn't really matter; our mating bond was completely solidified in every way possible. My hybrid venom would make my mark on him permanent, and our combined venom was now being pumped by our hearts throughout both of our bodies, and no one could ever take that away from us again.

I could have kept my teeth in his flesh forever, but when our blood couldn't possibly be mixed any more, my lips left his neck, only to immediately find their way to his mouth. That kiss was strong, and intense, and only further sealed the depth of our passion. Neither of us consciously decided to take it further, but we tore our clothes from our bodies like they were on fire.

The need I had for him to be inside of me, was just as strong as any other need in the universe, and there was nothing more intense. We were desperate for each other, and the movements of our bodies reflected that desperation.

We had almost lost each other, and what was worse, we almost chose to let each other go. It was a mistake we would never make again.

Our hunger for each other could never be alleviated, but eventually we managed to pull ourselves apart. As much as we wanted to stay intertwined forever, we couldn't put it off any longer; it was time to figure out how to put our lives, and our family, back together….


	41. Once and For All

**Chapter 41 – Once and For All**

"So, can we burn my mother's body now?" I deadpanned as I watched Edward pulling his ripped pants back on.

There was a brief moment when I worried how he would react to that question, but then he smiled his most adorable Edward smile, and I immediately relaxed.

"Whatever you decide to do with her, I won't stop you," he said, making me absolutely swoon.

"You really don't care?" I asked, just to be sure.

He considered it for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, I really don't. You just cured me from ever caring about that bitch again. In fact, why don't we go with your original volcano idea. We can take a vacation to one of those islands, and go on a sunset helicopter tour where we just throw her out the door as we're passing over one of the really active ones. You know, the ones they show on TV that gargle and spew out lava regularly."

"I think that's the most romantic thing you have ever said to me," I murmured, somewhere between a joke and complete seriousness.

He smiled at me, and then practically threw himself at me to kiss me again. Our lips moved hungrily, which could have easily morphed into that familiar heated passion so intense that we would become slaves to it, but somehow, we both remained in control. There was so much to do, and getting lost in each other again would need to wait. We had forever together, but for the moment, our friends and family needed us.

I grudgingly pulled my clothes back on, despite them being ripped and covered in blood, but I immediately wished I was still naked. Edward pressed his bare torso against my chest as he kissed me one more time, and I ached to feel his skin again with more than just my hands. However the sexy moment soon turned funny as he ran his palms down the smooth sleek fabric of my pants and became confused.

"Why are you wearing so much animal skin?" he questioned, seemingly sincerely baffled.

I giggled. "You mean leather?"

"Yeah. I mean, you look really sexy in it, but what happened to all the soft flower material?"

"Cotton?"

"Yeah."

I giggled again. God, I loved my adorably ignorant hybrid.

"This was all they had at the Alaskan compound," I explained.

"I think it's a little torn," he said as his fingers slipped through the giant hole by my ass. "You're not even wearing anything underneath," he added as he sought out my crack, and then slid his finger slightly between my cheeks.

"Nah, underwear lines wouldn't really match the badass look I was going for here," I told him, but then I had to giggle at his fingers going deeper. "Stop," I demanded playfully while pushing his hand away.

He smirked and withdrew his finger from the holey pants semi covering my ass, but his focus remained fixated on his hand as it traveled up my leather-clad body. He traced my corset, and grabbed a quick squeeze to both my breasts before continuing upward to my neck. His tender caress there was a sharp contrast to the rough way he held me the last time his hand was in that location. Even with the upsetting memory, I couldn't trust any other pair of hands more. In fact, having his hands on my neck made me ache for his lips to be there instead. It was an ache that shot straight to my core, and left me pulsating with desire yet again.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you," he whispered emotionally.

"It's okay," I whispered back. "You have an eternity to make it up to me."

"And I'll never stop working towards that," he agreed. He kissed my forehead tenderly, and we just held each other for a bit. Our hearts actually seemed to synchronize, and I wasn't the only one who noticed. "Do you hear that?"

"They're the same," I said with a smile as we listened to out combined beats.

"I told you your heart was strong. It just didn't like that human diet you were living on."

"Still, it would have been nice to know sooner that I wasn't ever going to die of heart failure."

"I didn't know you weren't human," he cooed. "Not until right before we were captured. I promise you, I would have told you if I knew."

"My mother used to feed me blood when I was little. You knew about that," I remembered.

"I trusted her when she told me it was nothing. Back then she had me believing she was the only one I could trust. Bella, I'm so sorry," he apologized again.

"Stop. I don't blame you for any of it, and I just want to move on. She stole too much from us already; I don't want to waste one more moment on regret because of her."

"But I have to at least thank you… for saving me. I would have been completely lost without you."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you would have. But you've saved my life multiple times before; that's just what we do. I'm sure there will be more life-threatening situations in the future, and we will just have to keep saving each other."

"We will," he said assuredly.

"We will," I echoed.

He kissed me again with just as much passion as before, but then one of his hands traveled to the back of my head, and he began playing with my hair, which was slightly distracting.

"What are you doing?" I asked after breaking my lips from his.

"I like seeing your dark hair back," he admitted.

"I know, you told me."

"When?" he asked perplexed.

"When you came to me in that vision to warn me to change our plan," I reminded him, knowing he knew exactly what I was talking about. I never thought it was a dream, and I was positive he would remember it too.

Thankfully, he did. "Oh, you mean when Chelsea followed me into your head? She went like full on horror movie, didn't she? That was exactly what I was trying to avoid; I guess I failed."

"How were you able to contact me from inside the water tank?" I questioned, knowing just how lost and dark it was in his mind as he was drowning.

"That wasn't when I was in the tank. That happened quite literally right before they held me down so Renée could bite me."

I cringed at the casual way he mentioned that assault in the form of a forced bite. Looking back on it, when he disappeared from my mind must have been the moment my mother bit him. At that point, that was the worst feeling I had ever experienced.

"But, why were you so wet already if you weren't yet put in the tank?" I questioned, remembering the wet sensation I kept having before that vision connection and sequential disconnection.

"Wet?" he asked unsure, but then it must have occurred to him. "Oh no, that wasn't from the tank. For several days before she drowned me, she kept strapping me to that table I was tortured on as a kid. You know, the one I told you about a while ago, with the electrified cuffs and the water being poured on my face. Yeah, that was totally fun to be reintroduced to."

"Edward, that's horrible," I said, feeling a sense of dread even trying to imagine it.

He shrugged. "I already knew what to expect. It was worse when I was a kid."

"So, she basically water-boarded and electrocuted you, then held you down while she bit you, and then drown you in a water tank?"

"I wasn't exactly cooperative, so she was trying to weaken me." He shook his head at the thought. "It took me a few days after first coming here to realize how truly sick and twisted she was. In the beginning, I honestly tried to understand her vision. The whole, take over the world thing seemed kind of fun. Not really _my_ thing, but I have read several books about it over the past century, so I know it's not a unique concept. She said she would bring you in as soon as she could, so I figured if you were cool with it…" He shrugged again.

"So, what made you start resisting her?" I questioned.

"The whole – _she wanted to bite me and then breed us and take our kids_ – thing, kind of did it for me."

I nodded. "Yeah, I can see how that would put a dent in the overall excitement for world domination."

"Exactly."

I laughed. "Come on, let's go see how the scientists are coming along with putting our family back together again. I want you to meet my grandfather."

"Your grandfather?" he asked confused.

I gave him a quick explanation of my relationship to Garrett, but it seemed introductions wouldn't come for a while.

"The head takes the longest to reattach," Edward told me guiltily. "Damn, I have so much apologizing to do! Em, Rose, now your grandfather," he shook his head.

"They will all forgive you the way I have," assured him. "But in the meantime, while we wait for them to be reassembled, you need to go hug your father. The poor guy was heartbroken when you denied him."

"Vampires' hearts don't really break. They don't even beat," he disagreed, not understanding the figure of speech.

I giggled again. "Let's just go make sure you give him a proper greeting after all this time."

"I suppose we should; I wasn't very kind to him. Though, it is sort of awkward after all these years, isn't it?"

"It might be, but it won't get less awkward until you go through it."

"Well, maybe it would be a little less awkward if I wasn't dressed like this," he said, pointing to his bare chest and ripped pants he was wearing.

"We should definitely change before we go back out to the arena. Any idea where we can find some clothes in this place?"

"I think the lab might have stuff for the soldiers," he suggested.

We held hands as we made our way to the labs, but before we could get there, a couple of the soldiers stopped us. Their unexpected appearance made my heart race with anxiety.

"Sir, we have been looking for you," one of them said. "We found something strange in the cells that we weren't sure what to do with."

"What is it?" Edward asked them, sounding slightly annoyed that they were interrupting us at all. It wasn't until I heard his clipped tone that I actually relaxed. We weren't going to get in any type of trouble with Renée's soldiers ever again; it was kind of a difficult concept to grasp after everything we had been through.

"Um… a human," the soldier said full of confusion and slight concern. "Was it a snack for the vampires or something?"

"No!" I said, realizing what he was talking about. "No, I did that. That's my father. Is he hurt?"

"No ma'am, not that we could tell. His lips appeared to be bound in some way, so I hope we weren't overstepping, but we turned off the electrical current to his cell and cut open his mouth. He was slightly dehydrated, so we also gave him a drink of water. Then he became quite lively. He began making threats, and aggressively demanding to be released so he could get to his daughter. Should we release him?"

I was taken aback by the way the soldier directly asked me that question, and didn't even look to Edward for his opinion whatsoever. It was a little odd, and completely confusing, but I sure as hell wasn't going to leave him hanging. "Um… no. As long as he is in good health, please leave him there until I can decide what to do with him."

"Yes, ma'am," he agreed, before turning and leading the others back the way they came.

"Your dad is in the cells?" Edward questioned surprised.

"Yeah, I put him there for his protection. Why did the soldiers listen to me like that?"

"Why wouldn't they?" he asked confused as to why I was confused.

"Because they don't know me. I don't even remember seeing those particular guys before."

"I haven't seen them before either. I wonder how many of them there actually are," Edward pondered.

"Wait, if they don't know me or you, why did they obey us like that? Shouldn't they be searching for my mother or something?"

"Your mother? No, I thought I explained it to you?" he questioned. "Their cells are infused with _my_ DNA. They are compelled to listen to _me_ , and they have been since the moment they became super-human. That was the main reason why Renée wanted to control me. If she controlled me, she could control them through me."

"No, I understand that, but why did they listen to _me_? He didn't even look to you for your approval before they agreed to do what I said."

"You're my mate," Edward replied like it was obvious. "Especially now that we have a mutual venom bond, they will obey you just as much as me. They don't even have to know either of our faces in order to recognize our control over them. It's an extra sense, and they're trained to listen to their senses."

"Oh, that's… good," I said, unsure about how I actually felt about that. Having an entire super-human soldier force at our disposal was awesome and all, but a bit scary as well. It was too much power for one person, or two, in our case. Hopefully we could put them to some good use in the near future.

We continued on our way to the lab, and there we found the place was just about empty since all the scientists were on the arena floor, helping to put the vampires back together again. As Edward searched out some clothes for us in the conjoined locker room, I absently began meandering around the rows of lab stations. There was a strong smell of harsh unnatural chemicals coming from the various vials and beakers, but there was also various creature scents as well. Some I recognized, and others that were unique and new. A few of the scents were outright repulsive, and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

"Ugh," I said of one particular scent.

Edward came up behind me and smelled it as well. "Concentrated werewolf," he told me.

I had smelled werewolves before in the cells, but this was so much worse. "Why is it giving me the willies?" I asked.

"Werewolves are natural enemies to vampires. Your vampire senses are telling you it's dangerous and to be on high alert," he explained.

"Oh. I wonder why I didn't feel like that in the cells?" I wondered.

"You were getting ready to fight. You were already on high alert, so you probably didn't notice it as much."

"Oh," I said again with a nod. "You know, the very first time I saw a werewolf in the arena below Swan Manor, I felt like this too. My instincts were dull then, but I felt this."

"They might have been dull, but you still had them," he said before kissing my temple. "I found these," he added, and then handed me a pair of dark grey sweats.

"Thanks."

We both changed, but just when we were about to head back to the arena, I remembered something.

"Wait, your mother is in here!" I told Edward eagerly. I led him to the dark room through the back doors, and flipped on the lights. The shifter was missing from his cage, but the other two cages looked exactly like they did when my mother showed them to me before. "Here," I said, locating Esme, who was just as catatonic as the last time I saw her.

The cages were fairly small, so Edward and I both squatted down to be closer to where Esme was sitting on a small chair, staring blankly ahead of her.

"What can we do for her?" I asked concerned.

Edward sighed, but then he stood and walked to the next cage. "Hi Chelsea," he said in a soft friendly tone, which sort of surprised me. "Hey, want to come out and play with me for a little bit?"

Chelsea giggled and began bouncing around like the child she appeared to be. "Renée said you wouldn't be able to visit me anymore," she said excitedly.

"Yeah, I couldn't for a while. Come on out here; I want you to meet my mate, Bella," he said while opening her cage door.

"Oh, I already met Bella. Well, I didn't meet her exactly, but I got to scare her a bit. Renée was laughing so hard when I messed with her mind."

"Yeah, that was totally funny," I said scornfully.

"I was trying to scare you _to death_. It almost worked too," she added with a wide smile.

"Well, I'm sorry I couldn't oblige," I replied bitterly. I was about to question Edward on what we were going to do with her, but the next thing I knew, there was a loud crack, and I watched her headless body fall limp to the ground.

I looked up at Edward in shock.

"You know, I was starting to think the decapitation thing was just something I did under Renée's control, but I do kind of enjoy it," he said casually. "Weird; ripping heads off wasn't one of my common fighting moves."

"Why did you do that?" I asked baffled.

"Do what?" he asked, seemingly legitimately confused. When I gestured to the girl's head in his hands, he cradled it like a football and used his free hand to wave at me dismissively. "This is one evil vampire, trust me. Like seriously sick and twisted. There isn't a prison that would safely contain her with the mind control shit she does."

"Renée seemed to manage controlling her," I countered.

"They had a mutually beneficial relationship. Trust me, once she learned Renée was gone, she would have been out of control."

A lone scientist just happened to stroll through the lab, so Edward called him over. "I need you to stick this in the furnace please," he instructed while handing him her head. "And the rest of that too," he added, pointing down at her body by his feet.

"Uh… sure, of course," the scientist replied, slightly disturbed.

"Edward?" a meek voice sounded from behind us.

We both turned to see a suddenly reanimated, and very emotional Esme, still locked in her cage.

"Mom," Edward murmured, before unlocking the cage and letting her out. She immediately wrapped her arms around him, and cried tearlessly but just as intensely as she would have if she was capable of producing tears; I found myself crying the tears she couldn't. It was a very emotional and beautiful reunion.

When she had her temporary fill of hugging her son, she turned to me and surprisingly hugged me just as tightly. At first, I thought it was a little awkward, but the longer she held me, the more comfortable it became. We didn't technically know each other, but she must have sensed I was Edward's mate, and because I was Edward's mate, his mother felt just as familiar to me as she did to him. Even without really knowing her, I could feel just how warm and loving Esme truly was as well, and I was so grateful we could release her from Chelsea's mind control.

Together, the three of us rejoined the others in the arena. Carlisle finally got his emotional embrace from his son, and Edward and I were happy to watch his parents reunite as well. They held each other, and kissed the way any passionate lovers would. Despite not actually being mates themselves, Esme and Carlisle clearly shared an intense love for each other, and it just further proved how amazing the Cullen clan was.

Rosalie and Garrett were both on the fast track to having their freshly reattached heads mended, whereas Emmett's process would take a great deal longer. In the meantime, Esme and I both had people in the cells we needed to attend to. Edward, not wanting to be away from me, escorted us there, while Carlisle stayed in the arena to continue the effort to find all of Emmett's shattered pieces.

"There she is," I told Esme the moment we located Carmen. She had been moved from the cell we had shared, and was now in a cell further back, as she had recovered from the intense collar shock to her system.

"Oh, Carmen, I am so sorry for the way I treated you," Esme told her as we worked on getting the cell open.

"I knew you weren't yourself!" Carmen replied emotionally. The two held hands between the bars, and when we finally managed to get the cell open, they embraced tenderly.

Watching the two of them together, and how vastly different their reunion was from Esme and Carlisle's, I could finally understand the difference between a romantic love, and the love of asexual mates. Esme and Carmen were practically the same person. Twin souls that loved each other immensely, but were not in love with each other. While some romances may fizzle away over time, their bond would never wane. As beautiful as it was, I couldn't help but be grateful my own mate was also my romantic partner. I loved having him all to myself.

After Esme and Carmen left us to go back to the arena, we went to the cell that still contained Jacob and all the shifters.

"Wow, and here I thought we lost," Jake said, surprised to see us. "You done being an evil zombie now?" he asked Edward.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Edward told them. "But it is good to know I'm basically stronger than all of you… not that I remember much of it."

"Well, we couldn't kill you, _and we were definitely trying_ , so I will give you that," Jake conceded as we opened the cell and let them out. Edward and Jake did a weird handshake hug thing, but the other shifters weren't so forgiving. They growled at him as Jake was greeting me with an embrace.

"Hey, back down!" Jake demanded them. "This is my bro; we're all cool now."

"I can try to make amends," Edward told them. "We have a troop of superhuman soldiers ready to escort you back to the so-called shifter sanctuary to free everyone."

"Really? Just like that?" Jake asked in disbelief.

"Just like that," I confirmed. "As long as you guys don't go around exposing yourselves to the humans, you're free."

They all cheered and hugged each other excitedly.

"Thanks guys," Jake said emotionally, hugging Edward and me once more. "I'll never forget this."

"Hopefully we will cross paths again someday," I told him with tears in my eyes.

"Forever is a long time, and this world isn't that big. I'm sure we will see each other again someday."

And with that, the shifters left. Edward and I would miss Jake, but at least it smelled better having him gone.

After that sweet goodbye, it was time to do something far less enjoyable. I braced myself before slowly making my way back over to where my father was caged. Of course, Edward trailed closely behind me.

"Bella!" Charlie cried the moment he saw me. "Thank god you're alright."

"Yeah, well… I'm a hybrid, so… I guess my chances at surviving were a little higher than an average human's would have been," I mumbled awkwardly, not exactly sure what else to say at the moment.

"I'm grateful for whatever helped you survive all of this. I've never been more afraid in my life than watching you in there with those monsters."

"The only monsters in that auditorium were the ones in the audience… and my mother, of course," I told him evenly. "How long have you known the truth?" I questioned. According to my mother, he didn't know until after I was born, but I wanted to hear it from him.

Charlie glanced over my shoulder to Edward standing just behind me, and then he looked back to me. "I found out the truth the night your mother left us. She faked an attack by a shifter. I was crazed with grief, but then…" He shook his head. "I caught her leaving. I demanded to know why she would do such a horrible thing, and she admitted everything. She admitted that everything she had done was for _him_ ," he said, gesturing towards Edward.

"Yeah, she was psycho," I replied, confirming to him that I knew all of that already.

"Bella, you can't trust him. The things she told me…"

"She told me the same things," I interrupted him. "Again, she was psycho, and a conniving lying bitch too."

"If he is her mate…"

"He's not," I cut him off again.

"I'm just telling you, he may be doing her biding still," he pressed.

I sighed. "My mother is dead. He is not doing her bidding anymore. He's actually the one who killed her in order to save me, so if he is doing anyone's bidding, it's mine."

"You can't be too sure," he argued. "I saw him ripping creatures in half at her command."

I nodded. "Yeah, but he is under _my_ command now. Watch." I turned to Edward and told him to, "Jump."

He furrowed his brows at me. "No."

I giggled. "See? Under my complete control," I told my father, before quickly turning back to Edward once more. "I love you."

"I don't love you," he replied evenly as he continued to glare at Charlie.

"Oh, yes you do," I called his bluff.

His serious expression broke with a smirk. "No, I don't… and I do."

"You're so sweet," I said sincerely, before turning back to my father. "He worships me."

"That's a different thing entirely," Edward interjected. "I never denied worshipping you."

I smiled, but didn't turn back to him. "Anyway, he's good," I told Charlie, and then fell serious again. "And I'm more than fine. In fact, I'm better now than I have ever been before. You don't need to worry about me ever again."

"I'm your father, I will _always_ worry about you," he disagreed.

"Well, after spending a little time with my mother, I'm sorry if the whole parental unconditional love and worry thing isn't so believable."

"Bells, despite everything that's happened, you _know_ me," he said intensely.

"Do I?" I retorted bitterly.

"We had sixteen years of just the two of us," he added. "Pizza nights, and movie marathons. Long warm days on the boat, and cool nights by the campfire. We had some rough times like any family, but the good always outnumbered them." He let out a long slow breath. "Sweetheart, I'm not trying to convince you to help me get out of here. I don't think Daemon would even allow that."

"His name is Edward!" I snapped at him.

"I'm sorry, you're right. I would never expect _Edward_ to allow me out of here after everything I've done, but Bella, I need you to know that our lives have always been real and genuine. You are my child, my only baby, and my love for you never faltered in the slightest when I found out what you were. All I ever wanted to do was protect you, and make sure you grew up in a world that was safe for _you_. Your mother told me Edward was dangerous and that I needed to keep him contained at Swan Manor, but that I also needed to keep you away from him, and I believed her. I'm not trying to make excuses, but it's the god's honest truth. I thought… I thought keeping your vampire side from you would give you the best chance at living a normal life. I see now it was wrong, and I'm so sorry."

Hearing my father apologize, and for him to do it in an emotional and seemingly sincere way, I had to fight through the tingles in my nose to keep myself from crying. He was my father, my daddy, and a major part of me wanted to believe him unconditionally. I wanted to open the cage and fall into his arms and ask him to scare away all the monsters like he did when I was a child…. But now I was the monster, and too much had happened to just forgive so easily.

"The tournaments are finished for good," I told him strongly. "Innocent supernatural creatures will never be kept in electrified cells below anyone's house again."

"Bella, there are powerful men out there that will never let this thing go. I've tried getting out before. They have reach beyond your imagination."

"Well, you're the only owner that survived here tonight. This was the Apex 25 tournament; all of the bigwigs were supposed to be here, and since they're all dead now, I'd say we have a pretty good chance at ending this thing once and for all."

"There are others. Successors for every house. This will never end," he said anxiously.

"Yes, it will," I disagreed. "We have an entire army of super-human soldiers to make sure it ends. We'll even make sure they are involved with the new president and various monarchies around the world if we have to. This heinous practice is over."

I could see the relief on Charlie's face as I spoke, and I knew he never liked the business anyway. It was never his choice to keep monsters in cages and to force them to fight each other. He had been born into the industry, and like any other organized crime syndicate, it was nearly impossible to break free of it without it costing your life. He really had done it for so long to keep me safe, and I appreciated his sacrifice as much as I despised his methods.

"Dad, why did you tell Garrett that my mother was dead, when you knew she wasn't?" I asked out of curiosity.

"I saw her briefly before I found him. I thought you may have been with her, so I went to her and we spoke. She is… _was_ , horrible. The things she said. I guess I was hoping Garrett would stop trying to find her, and start helping me look for you."

I nodded, figuring that much already and just needing to hear him say it to be sure. Then, I sighed. "So, I guess the only question I have left, is what to do with you," I said, mostly to myself. I considered pulling Edward aside to discuss it, but the truth was there was no need for that. We were so in-sync that I knew he would fully support whatever decision I made on the matter. "I'm going to have a couple of the soldiers escort you home," I decided.

"Home?" Charlie questioned surprised.

"Yeah, home. It's a big manor, and now it's completely empty. I guess you're going to have to think of something new to do with your time."

"I don't want to be in that house without you," he mumbled with tears in his eyes. I truly think he would have rather stayed in that cell then go back to the manor alone. Too many ghosts of what was. Still, I felt it in my gut that was the best place for him.

"I'm sorry. You'll be fine. Maybe take up gardening."

Since the electricity was turned off of the cells, Charlie had his hands resting on the bars between us. Despite how much I ached to hug my father again, I settled for only placing one of my hands over his. "Goodbye dad."

A tear spilled over his cheek. "Where will you go?" he questioned.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess wherever my coven goes."

More tears wet his face, but he nodded. "Will I ever see you again?"

"I don't know," I said honestly.

"I love you, Bells," he told me just as I was about to pull away. "I always have, and I always will."

I couldn't fight off my own tears for a moment longer. "I love you too, daddy."

But I also couldn't stay there and cry. There was so much left to do, and forever was waiting for us beyond those cages. If I never saw any cells again, it would be too soon.

Our goodbyes were said, and I made no promises to ever find my way back to what was left of his life, but I truly hoped I would see Charlie again one day, and that was the hope I needed to allow me to walk away from him and not look back.

Edward and I left the cellblock hand in hand, and we made our way back to the arena; only stopping briefly to tell a few soldiers what to do with my father. I didn't have a doubt they would take care of him the way I asked.

By the time we finally made it back to where our family was, I was pleasantly shocked to see Rosalie and Garrett both up and moving around.

"Oh, baby brother!" Rose squealed the moment she smelled us. Edward had assumed he had so much groveling to do in order to earn their forgiveness, but as I predicted, they were just grateful it was over, and everyone was safe. "I'm so glad you're you again," she cooed after slamming into Edward at full speed.

"I'm glad to be me again too," he agreed. "I'm sorry for…"

"I know you're sorry, but there is no reason for it," Rose cut him off. "We just need to go get Eleazar in Alaska, and our family will be complete again. You did that. You set us all free so we could be together again. We would all still be locked up if it wasn't for you."

Edward sighed. "No, you would all be dead right now if it wasn't for Bella. I would have burned everyone if I wasn't stopped."

Rosalie smiled widely. "You're right. Bella is the hero of the century. We can't thank you enough," she said to me with a tight embrace.

"Um… you're welcome," I said awkwardly, not knowing how else to respond. "How did you guys heal so quickly? I thought it was going to be a while."

"I recently developed this rapid mending serum that speeds the process," Carlisle explained. "It had never been tested so it was a risk to use it, but it seems to have worked perfectly."

"That's amazing," I told him. "How is Emmett coming?"

"I'm over here!" Em's deep boisterous voice called to us.

"Aw man, I can't tell you enough how sorry I am," Edward told his pseudo big brother as we watched the scientist still hard at work piecing him back together. At least his jaw was re-fused – or maybe it would have been better to do his jaw last…

"No worries, bro. Daumn, you smell like sex! You and your newly discovered hybrid mate didn't waste any time getting reacquainted, huh. That's awesome! I bet now that she is less fragile you could really throw her around and break shit. I'm so fucking proud of you. An unbeatable beast in the ring and the bedroom."

"Yeah Em, this is a great topic in front of my parents," Edward grumbled.

"What? Oh, come on! I've only just met Carlisle and Esme over there, but in the time since I've been awake, they disappeared twice to fuck."

"I did not need to know that," Edward muttered disturbed.

"I would say that I'm jealous, but guess what, Carlisle thinks he may have recreated the serum that made him just human enough to get erections again. Dude, your sister and I are going to be fucking by the end of the day!"

"I did not need to know that either," Edward replied.

I glanced at Rosalie, expecting to see her looking pissed at Emmett for his big mouth, but she just looked even more in love than ever. She was practically glowing.

"I said I _think_ the serum works," Carlisle told Emmett. "We need to get you pieced back together before you can even start thinking about any of that."

"It will be incredible if it does work," I interjected. "Just think about what something like that could do for the vampire species?"

"A lot of boning vampires," Emmett agreed.

"Not just that, but it could help alleviate some of the more harsher vampire traits," I said while considering the possibilities.

"It is true, I was better able to control my instincts and bloodlust after the serum was introduced into my system," Carlisle confirmed. "And when I turned Esme, she shared those qualities."

"That really is amazing," I said in awe.

"What's amazing is _you_ ," Garrett told me tenderly. He had waited for the Cullens to take their time reuniting, and now he wanted his turn to embrace me. "I'm grateful you're okay, and I'm so incredibly proud of you. I was never able to be proud of anything my child did before, and I'm so grateful I got to experience that through you."

"Thanks. I'm just glad we will have time to get to know each other now."

"Actually…"

"What?" I asked, confused about his hesitation.

"I was speaking with Carlisle, and he said you had mentioned a supernatural creature prison in Alaska that you wish to create."

"Um…okay?"

"I would like to go there… with Renée."

"You would like to do what now?" I asked, thinking I had to have heard him wrong.

"She is my daughter, and despite everything she has done, I have to believe she is just the product of her horrible upbringing. Please… please give me the chance to rehabilitate her."

"She… Do you even know what she did to us?" I exploded.

"Yes, I do. I'm not asking you to set her free. Not now, not even ever. In the caves of the Alaskan compound, I can have the chance to work with her. To show her the love and compassion she never got as a child. To teach her that her vampire side is not something to hate. It may take centuries, but I know I can eventually get through to her. I have to at least try."

"But…"

"There is no more damage she can do to you. Your venom is permanently in your mate's neck, so she couldn't go after him again, even if she had the ability. The soldiers are yours to command; she is powerless. And we will both be fitted with the electrified collars to give you the peace of mind that we could never rise up and escape that place."

Unlike with the decision about my father, I felt the need to look to Edward for his opinion. He had been hurt by her most of all, and if he wasn't comfortable with it, I would happily and personally escort her body to the top of the closest active volcano.

"It's up to you," he told me, knowing my question without me even having to voice it.

"She hurt you…"

"Garrett is right, she can't do anything else to me."

"Yeah, but you can hate her enough to want her to burn," I argued.

"I'm completely free of her in every way, including hate," he disagreed.

"You don't hate her?" I asked, perplexed on how that could even be possible.

"Hate is such an intense emotion, and I refuse to give her even that," Edward explained. "That's the beauty of being free, Bella. I truly don't care what happens to her. The decision is yours."

His words made that decision both harder and easier. My hate was intense, and I wanted revenge. I wanted to see her body burn and melt into oblivion. I wanted to erase her very existence… but I realized, in erasing her, I erased myself. I didn't want to hate her the way she hated her vampire father. I wanted to be like Edward. I wanted to be free of her.

"Okay," I relented, feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. It really was a gift to let all that hatred go. I turned back to Garrett. "But it's not right to have you locked in there like that. You deserve your freedom as much as anyone."

"Being with my daughter is all I have wanted for almost two centuries now," he assured me. "I have to believe that some day, after she has paid for her sins, she will finally be worthy of a chance at a real life. And if she never is, I will stay with her in those caves indefinitely."

"It is what any parent would do," Carlisle said gently.

Esme nodded in agreement. "No matter how old they are, or how much time has passed, you never love your baby any less," she said while looking at Edward adoringly.

I sighed, and then hugged my grandfather. "If you ever change your mind, just tell the soldiers we will have there acting as guards. They will know you are always free to go… as long as you can prove Renée hasn't corrupted you in some way."

"Thank you, Bella. You have no idea how much this means to me," Garrett said softly. "I hope you can find it in you to come visit me from time to time."

"I will."

"In fact, we will escort you there as soon as Emmett is better," Edward added. "We need to go get Eleazar, and make sure the soldiers that will be stationed there know what they're expected to be doing."

…

There were still a great many vampires locked in the Alaskan facility, so before we let them out, we needed all of them to understand the new laws for the supernatural world. For the sake of peace, non-humans needed to remain inconspicuous. We would not curve their natural diet by outlawing human consumption, but I figured it was best to give them rules about that as well. Much like humans had for hunting deer, children and pregnant women were off limits, and they could only kill one lone adult per week. There really was no way for us to monitor that particular law, but as long as the vampires thought we could, hopefully it would control some of them enough.

Our entire coven was grateful to have Eleazar back. Not only did Carlisle have his mate again, but he was such an asset to us all. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say there were even some immediate fireworks going off between Eleazar and Carmen. It seemed the asexual mated pairs found romance in their opposite counterparts, which I suppose couldn't be more perfect.

After all the vampire prisoners were gone from the facility, the two new prisoners were brought in. We all said goodbye to Garrett, and made sure he was secured inside before he would bring my mother back to life. None of the Cullens or myself had any desire to stay and watch that, so we made triple sure the soldiers there had their orders, and then we headed for the exit. Before we could leave, however, Eleazar made a discovery.

"I thought there were odd smells coming through those vents," El said as we all stood over a body in the small laboratory.

"That's Arostali's wife," I said, recognizing her partially decomposed facial features. "What did she die from?"

"As far as I can tell from here, it looks like she died of a great many things," Carlisle stated.

"She smells so strange," Carmen added.

"Yeah, there's more than typical human decay going on here," Rosalie agreed.

"She basically smells like a bunch of different creatures' shit," Emmett said bluntly.

After a quick investigation of the lab, we concluded that, like Renée's mother Kate, Arostali's wife had been experimented on with various creature DNA. She definitely seemed off the time we met, but I never would have expected that. What ultimately killed her was the introduction of some type of species' DNA that was incompatible with her system. It was a shame since I wasn't so sure she chose to have those experiments done to her, or if she was forced by her despicable husband.

The smell got to be so bad that Edward and I decided to go wait outside as the others took a few more minutes exploring the lab for anything that they thought would be useful in the future. For Emmett, his main priority was still having Carlisle make that serum for him, so they weren't about to waste any good chemical compounds if they could salvage them.

Once outside, the realization that my mother would soon be coming back to life in that building weighed heavily on me, and I clung to Edward for support.

"What if this is the worst mistake we have ever made?" I asked him.

"If your gut is telling you that this is wrong, we should listen. We don't have to leave her alive. They have a big furnace here, we can end this now, once and for all."

I considered it for a moment, and then shook my head. "No, my gut is telling me everything will be fine, I think I'm just a little paranoid. After everything she did to us, it's hard for me to really trust that she can't ever hurt us again."

"Even if it will just help you sleep at night, we should go burn her," Edward suggested.

"No, I'll be fine. This is important to Garrett, so I want to make sure he gets this chance. We can always come back and kill her later if she doesn't behave herself and Garrett finally accepts she's a lost cause."

"Everything will be fine. She will never escape here, and even if she manages it, she can't hurt us ever again. She has no way to control me, or the soldiers, and together, you and I are unbeatable."

I smiled. "You're right about that."

"So," he kissed my forehead. "Where do we go from here?"

"Wherever our coven goes," I said without hesitation.

"Yes, but the decision is really ours. They will basically follow us anywhere… Or we could always ditch them and go off on our own for a while."

"Not that I wouldn't love to have you all to myself, but I like having them all around. It feels complete. Vampires do better in covens than alone."

"We could be a coven of two," he argued playfully.

"You know they would track us down."

"Yeah, but if we leave now, we'd have a head start," he said enticingly.

"You really want to ditch your family, don't you?" I asked surprised.

He shrugged. "Not forever, but _our_ family can be a little much, and I so miss the days of just you and me out on the open road. Maybe we can catch a bus."

I giggled. "If we do that, I'm going to have to buy you a cheesy tourist sweatshirt at one of the rest stops. We can't do a road trip without one."

"I miss the tree hugger one," he joked. "We need to go back to Washington to get a new one."

"I told you that you would regret leaving it in that motel room," I teased.

"You were right, but then again, you're always right."

"And I'm right in saying we need to tell _our_ family before we go anywhere. We don't need them freaking out because we just disappear."

"Yeah, you are right. You know, we do still have quite a bit of money left from selling that painting; we could just buy a car and not have to suffer through anymore crowded buses. You can drive, right?"

I laughed again. "Of course."


	42. Living

**Chapter 42 – Living**

The Cullens weren't happy about our impromptu vacation apart from them; especially Edward's parents, after already being away from him for most of his life, but they also understood. It wasn't going to be a long separation, we just needed some time to ourselves, and they were supportive of that.

After purchasing a car, we set out to the great unknown. It didn't really matter where we went, and as we soon discovered, a small musty motel room in the middle of nowhere, was as good of a place to reconnect as any.

After several glorious weeks of driving, and us just worshiping each other as we saw the countryside, we both felt completely refreshed. But as much as we enjoyed ourselves, we figured it was probably about time to reconvene with the coven.

"So, next stop, Brazil?" I asked Edward, knowing the Cullens had all gone back to the island.

"There is still so much of the world left to see," Edward said as he considered it.

"We can see the rest with everyone else," I countered after holding up my cell phone and showing him Emmett's emotional plea, via text message, for us to come home.

Edward chuckled. "He is such a baby."

"I know, but _everyone_ wants us to come back."

"I suppose we can take more vacations with just the two of us in the future," he relented.

"We better. You still owe me a helicopter ride over the Hawaiian volcanos."

"Yeah, but it won't be as fun without dumping a body over the edge."

"True."

"Are you sure there isn't anything else you want to do before we go back to them?" he questioned.

I laughed once. "We've already done so much more than I could have ever imagined in my eighteen years. You're the one who was locked in a cage for a century. Is there anything left you want to do before we go to Brazil?"

He thought about it for a minute. "There is one thing I've ways wanted to see."

….

It took another four days to get to our intended location, and once there I became unexpectedly nervous. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"We certainly don't have to if you don't want to," he assured me.

"If this is important to you, then let's do it."

"I wouldn't necessarily say it's important, but it is something I always wondered about."

"Okay, let's get it over with then," I said anxiously.

I reached up to the door before us, and timidly knocked.

It seemed to take forever, but then finally the door opened slowly, and someone peeked outside. "Bella?"

"Hi dad," I said awkwardly.

"Is everything okay? Are you okay?" he asked concerned.

"Everything is fine, we're just… Edward wanted to see the house," I told him truthfully.

"I lived under it for so long, I was always curious to see what the actual living quarters looked like," Edward explained, sounding slightly bashful.

Charlie seemed a bit confused and weirded out at first, but he quickly pushed it away. "Yes, of course. Please come in," he said, pulling the door open wider so we could walk in.

Once inside, I was able to get a better look at my father, and surprisingly, he looked somehow better and worse at the same time. Still just as skinny, if not even skinnier than the last time I saw him, but his color looked slightly better.

"How have you been?" Charlie asked as Edward looked around the living room, while I kind of just stood there.

"Good," I told him, feeling uncomfortable by the strain between us. "What have you been doing?"

He huffed. "I actually haven't been doing much of anything. I'm sorry for the mess; I wasn't expecting you to come back… ever."

It wasn't until he mentioned it that I noticed the blanket of dust covering everything. He was never the biggest neat freak or anything, but it definitely looked like he just gave up cleaning altogether.

"What's that smell?" I asked as I got a whiff of a particularly putrid stench.

"Is it normal to leave soiled dishes in the sink for a long period of time?" Edward asked as he popped his head out of the kitchen. "There is some gnarly mold growing on these."

"I-uh, may be a little behind on my cleaning of _everything_ ," Charlie admitted.

"Dad, I get you're lonely, but you can't live like this," I told him.

"I'm fine, I just need to get into the routine of not having any kind of focus, or goal, or anything left…" He let his words trail off.

I felt horrible for my father's pain, but I really didn't know how to fix it for him either. After a couple minutes, Edward rejoined us, and wrapped his arm around my waist from behind.

"This place is a little disappointing," he said bluntly. "I'm not sure what I was expecting, it just wasn't… _this_."

"This is where I grew up," I said with a sigh.

"Yeah, it may be big, but it's just a house," Charlie agreed.

"A filthy house. You need a person to come in here and help you clean," Edward told him. "By the way, I threw all the dishes out the window."

"Um…thank you," Charlie said while staring at him with wide eyes. It was clear how surreal it was for him to have Edward casually meandering freely around his house, but he was trying to be okay with it, and that was what mattered.

"So… I'm going to go show Edward the upstairs now," I told Charlie awkwardly.

"Okay, I haven't even gone to your room since you left, so it's probably pretty dusty in there too."

I nodded, and then took Edward's hand to tow him upstairs.

"This is really weird," I said to him, after I opened the door to my childhood bedroom, and watched my one-time mystery hummer browsing through my old stuff. Old stuff, that used to mean so much to me, but now felt like they were never really mine. But nothing was more surreal than watching him locate that one particular vent in the corner of the room.

"Hear that?" he asked me quietly.

I quieted my breathing to listen, and sure enough, there was a faint echoing drip sound. "What is it?"

"A leak in my cell. It used to drive me mad. Constant drip, drip, drip, drip. It's what I heard the most when you weren't in your room, and you know my issues with water; there wasn't a worse sound for me to be forced to suffer through." He visibly trembled. "Still gives me the willies."

Talk of his past suffering made my chest ache, so I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his temple. "You're in here with me now."

He smiled the smile that always took my breath away. "Yeah, and I would go through it all again a million times over, just to have this one moment with you."

I kissed him – because, how could I not – but before it could deepen the way I ached for it to, he pulled away. He wasn't quite finished exploring my room just yet.

He went through my dresser drawers, teased me about my big underwear, and even read a bit of my high school diary. After being jokingly jealous over reading about some crush I barely remembered, he threw the thing out the window, and then climbed onto my bed and began bouncing like a child.

"Are you really jumping on my bed right now?"

"My cell was directly connected to this room through the vent system of this house," he said as he continued to bounce. "I used to listen to every noise this mattress made, and over the years, I began to distinguish between the various squeaks based on what you were doing. I heard every time you rolled over in your sleep, or threw yourself down during a fit, and I also heard you do this multiple times. I always wondered what it would feel like."

I laughed, vaguely remembering jumping on my bed as a child. "I'm sure that must be thrilling after everything else you have experienced in your lifetime."

"It actually is, thank you."

I laughed again. "You know, I can think of a better way to make the bed squeak like this," I told him as seductively as possible, given the fact he was still jumping.

He immediately stopped mid-jump. "You're really going to let me fuck you right here in your childhood room?"

My smiles widened. "I did go through my sexual awakening during my adolescence being thoroughly turned on by your silky hums at night."

"You know, there was always one distinctive squeak that I could never figure out..."

I nodded mischievously, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Yeah, it was masturbation."

His joking expression and tone immediately morphed into lust, and then he attacked me. I didn't even notice our clothes come off before he began pounding into me, and I didn't even care that we weren't being quiet. It was a big house, hopefully Charlie couldn't hear us from wherever he was.

When the force of our climax hit us hard, our teeth ended up in each other's necks once more. We didn't bite each other every time we had sex, or even that often since one time was enough to make that venom tie permanent, but when we did, it sure as hell felt incredible, and only added that next level of intensity to our passion.

We didn't stop with just one climax; we stayed together in that bed through making love two more times. In his arms, I truly didn't care about anything else in the world. It wasn't until we both heard some of clatter downstairs, followed by the smell of food cooking, that we finally forced ourselves apart.

"I guess we should get dressed," I said languidly, not wanting to really move at all.

"I hope you still fit in some of your old clothes, I sort of ripped the ones you were wearing when I was stripping you," Edward said apologetically.

"Ugh," I giggled.

I stumbled my way to the closet as Edward got himself redressed, and I snarled my lip as I looked at my choices. "I really dressed horribly."

"Does it really matter?" he asked me. "I mean, you could go down there naked, but I don't think Charlie would appreciate that very much."

"Definitely not," I said, and then just pulled down the closest thing I could reach to dress into.

After we were both decent, we reluctantly went downstairs, and was met with quite the shocking sight.

"What the hell?" Edward grumbled.

The house was now full of vampires in the form of Cullens, who looked to be moving about and tidying up like they owned the place. They all looked up at us, and cheered like we had just won some epic battle. Then we were immediately overwhelmed with cold hugs, and far too many wet kisses.

"What are you guys doing here?" Edward asked them as soon as they gave us a moment to breathe again.

"Well, when you sent the text to say you were going to stop here before coming home, we decided we just couldn't wait a moment longer to see you guys," Emmett explained.

"Um… _awesome_ ," Edward said sarcastically, but I could tell he was just as excited to see them as they were him.

As for me, I wasn't even going to hide my excitement. "I missed you guys so much!" I said enthusiastically as they all took turns individually greeting us.

"So, how long are you all staying?" Charlie asked carefully.

Emmett draped his big heavy arm over my father's shoulders. "How about until you learn to love us."

"We can find our own lodging elsewhere until we leave the area if we make you uncomfortable," Carlisle offered.

"No, please stay," Charlie replied unexpectedly. "For as long as you wish. It's a big house."

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Of course. Your family will always be welcome here," he told me. I could tell he wasn't comfortable in the least, but I appreciated the sentiment.

"Thanks," I told him sincerely. I had no plans to stay longer than a couple hours, but the Cullens seemed to make themselves right at home.

"Come on, Babe, let's go find our room," Emmett told Rosalie, but stopped to tell us something before he went. "By the way, Carlisle's serum is working awesome. We fuck all the time. Like real hard fucking."

"Okay Emmett!" Edward stopped him. "I don't need to know that."

"What's the big deal? We all know you two were fucking when we first got here. Even Bella's old man knew it. He said you guys were _busy_ ," Em laughed.

"Whatever, just go," Edward said frustrated.

"Is something cooking?" I asked, making Esme gasp.

"Oh my goodness, I forgot!" she said, racing to the kitchen at vampire speed.

"What is she cooking for?" I asked Carmen, who was standing closest to me.

"For you, and your father; he looks so frail and hungry," she replied indiscreetly.

"How long have you had cancer?" Eleazar then asked Charlie unexpectedly.

I looked to my father concerned.

"I… How do you know?" he asked him confused.

"I can smell the medication you're on in your system," El explained. "My daughter was on similar medications before she died."

"Your daughter?" Charlie asked him.

"Yes, my human daughter, who I had with my late wife before I became a vampire."

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Dad, you're sick?" I asked him upset.

"I suppose it's nature's way of finding justice for all the wrongs I've done," Charlie told me with a sorrowful grin.

"There are very good medications available for all types of cancers now," Carlisle said encouragingly.

"Yeah, I think I'm beyond all that now," he replied quietly.

"So, you're dying," I said, feeling a devastation I wasn't expecting. When we parted last, I wasn't even sure if we would ever see him again, but now that we were there, and in my childhood home full of all my childhood memories, I wasn't ready to say goodbye for good just yet.

"Doc said I probably have a few good months left before I get really bad," Charlie said, trying to sound encouraging. "I'm just so grateful you found yourself a new family before I'm gone. I don't know how I would have ever found peace if I thought I was leaving you alone."

Tears swelled my eyes, and for the first time in what felt like a long time, I hugged my father.

Without anyone even discussing it, everyone knew we would be staying there for the remainder of my father's life, and I was beyond grateful. They didn't owe Charlie anything, and they had every reason to hate him, but they were all there to support me by supporting him. It truly was the greatest gift anyone could ask for.

…

Carlisle and Eleazar spent much of the time we had at Swan Manor, down in the lab. They were always inventing things and coming up with new concoctions. Esme loved to cook, despite not eating herself, but she always had delicious new dishes for Edward, Charlie, and me to try. Carmen spent much of the daylight hours either helping Esme, or gardening out on the grounds. Rose too, loved planting flowers and making the Manor's exterior more beautiful than ever before. Emmett and Edward spent a lot of time down in the arena, messing around and sparring amongst each other, and my father and I would often sit and watch them.

"This is weird, huh?" I said to Charlie one afternoon as Emmett's body went flying across the arena in front of us.

"It is. But it's really great. Believe it or not, I have really enjoyed them all here."

I smiled. "Me too."

…

When my father finally passed away, I was both grief-stricken, as well as relieved. He had been in so much pain during his last days that I was grateful he was now at peace. We held a memorial service for his friends and the people who knew him, and I was shocked to see so many almost forgotten familiar faces amongst the crowd.

"Bella," my old friend Jessica greeted me. "Gosh it's been a long time. How are you? I mean, your dad just died so I know you're not great, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, wow, I'm surprised to see you," I said sincerely as she hugged me.

"Well, I'm going to college locally, so I figured I should come and pay my respects. My dad and Charlie were friends. Whatever happened to you? You dropped out of school and sort of seemed to fall off the face of the planet."

"I finished school remotely," I lied. "I did that exchange student program thing."

"Oh, cool. What country did you go to?"

"Australia."

"Oh, awesome. You know, for a while there I thought the monsters in your basement got you."

I laughed once. "What?"

"Remember that one sleepover I had here, where we found that secret hatch in the bottom of that closet? Yeah, I totally thought you went down there and got eaten by a monster, or maybe even taken hostage as some sex slave like Princess Leia in _Return of the Jedi_. I imagined you with that golden bikini, and some huge slug like monster keeping you on a leash."

"I think the monsters below my house were a little more attractive than Jabba the Hut," I told her seriously.

"Hey babe, are you okay?" Edward asked as he walked up behind me and kissed my temple.

"Well, hello there," Jessica said, immediately drooling over my mate – not that I blamed her.

"Uh, this Jessica Stanley, she is an old friend of mine from high school," I told Edward. "Jessica, this is the monster that used to be in my basement," I told her casually, before grabbing Edward's hand, and pulling him away from her.

"That was surprisingly honest," Edward said to me as we walked outside to get some air.

"She'd never believe any lie I made up anyway, so fuck it."

"How are you doing?" he asked me supportively.

I hugged myself to him tightly. "Better now."

I let him hold me for several minutes, before we reluctantly went back inside to tend to the guests.

"Well, now that Charlie is gone, what's our next move?" Rosalie asked that evening after all the humans went home.

"We could go absolutely anywhere," Esme said while cuddling into Carlisle's side.

She couldn't have been more right. We had come full circle, and now it was time to set a new path. Charlie's passing marked the end of all my human ties, and I was excited to see where my hybrid life would take me next. With the super-human soldiers policing the supernatural world, and checking in with us every so often, all we really had left to worry about was our own future. A future full of limitless possibilities. Our family was whole and strong, and there were no more battles left to fight, but our greatest adventure was still ahead of us. The adventure of truly living…

 **The End**

…

 *****A/N:** I need to shout out a special " _Thank you"_ to **CoppertopJ,** for her editing, pre-reading, collage making, and all-around support and encouragement. Thanks so much, girl!

And thank you to everyone who has read this crazy story. I appreciate every _view_ , _review_ , and _favorite_ this fic has received. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

*Once again, for anyone wanting to see the chapter collages and manips for this story, as well as all my previous and future stories, please "friend" me on FB at **KC Nicnort** , and take a look at my feed and albums. Thanks again!


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